Pale Roots
by Animajunki1230
Summary: In the tells of time, there are many stories. But none quite so interesting as the tale of Negi Springfield and his quest... a story worthy of a place in history... but sometimes, story threads can change... Warning! an OC story! Please read and review! (Chapter 9 Up!)
1. Chapter 1

Hello there people! this is my first attempt at a negima fan-fic Before! I hope that you all will read and enjoy it! I had fun making it!

Negima is owned By Ken Akametsu, the idea and lone character belong to me

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><p>Pale Roots<p>

Prologue 1: A Visitor

"Gah… I always hate going down here…it's always so dark… I hate dark places…"

A rather feminine looking man wearing a work suite was looking around the dark hall nervously with a flashlight.

Another man, dark skinned and more battle hardened looking, gave a sigh and pushed his glasses back onto his face "would you stop nagging Seruhiko-kun? In case you forgot, We're down here because of a strange magical signal that was detected in the roots of the World Tree, so stop your whining and help me look for it" the one named Seruhiko looked around the large hall filled with giant roots for a minute or two and nervously walked alongside the dark toned man.

After a minute or two, he asked "Do we happen to know where in the roots it might be Gandolfini-san?" Gandolfini kept looking around as he gave his response "it wasn't specific. Apparently whatever it is keeps moving around, but it seems to be close to the gate in the deepest roots last we checked."

Seruhiko looked at him with a quizzical look "Moving around? Then it's alive?" Gandolfini shook his head "not sure, there was a lack of life signs when it showed up, so it could be an elemental or spirit. That's why we're down here to check. So shut up and start looking."

Seruhiko slightly cringes at the scolding and goes back to looking, muttering under his breath "I still hate the dark…"

The two men continue their search for the strange signal for about another hour in silence before something interesting happens. Seruhiko was still acting slightly fearful of the dark place they were still in before he heard something in the distance "…ugh… ungh…" The pretty male quickly flashed his light in the direction of the noise but saw nothing. His nerves where on high alert trying to hear the noise again.

Gandolfini noticed his sudden apprehension "what's wrong Seruhiko-kun? Did you see something?" Seruhikos eyes where narrow slits as he waited for the noise again "not see, heard. I think there is something over there." Gandolfini quickly pulled a gun from his belt and had it trained down the hall, finger dangerously close to the trigger in anticipation for the worst while the pair tries to make themselves unknown.

Several tense minutes go by before another noise is heard "ugh…*cough*… I know you're there…so could ya help me out here?" Seruhiko and Gandolfini both flinch at the voices recognition of them and they both quickly get ready for a fight "hey! Hey! HEY! I just asked you if you could help me out!" the voice sounded like it was starting to panic.

Gandolfini stops but keeps his gun trained ahead "who are you? And for that fact, where are you?" there was silence for a moment before a light chuckling is heard "he he he… I'll tell you my name as soon as you help me out, as for where I am? Judging from your lights, really high up, Ha ha h-ahh! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! _Pain_…"

The men looked at each other in confusion at first and then flashed there lights up at the ceiling. What they see is actually very comical and they both try not to laugh at it. Close to the ceiling is a young man that looked to be about 17 or 18 years old. He was rather pale and had a rather haunted look to him, though he still looked rather handsome despite that. His hair was a pale white color and was tied into a short pony-tail that went to the back of his neck.

They really couldn't see anything else because the young man was tangled in a large mass of roots and he looked like he was bent into all kinds of weird angles. The young man noticed there slight snickering and started to get angry "hey! Stop laughing! This is not fun for me! In fact, its quiet painful! As a matter of fact I also think- Ow! Oh sweet Terrathrax!" he suddenly spun around and he was almost bent all the way back with the back of his head almost touching his feet. "Could you get me down already! This hurts like Carotis!"

Both men lightly laughed at his situation again before they decided to do something. Seruhiko was the first to say something "alright we will get you down, but you will need to be brought in for questioning. By the way, that is not up for debate." They could hear the young man groan out loud, but not due to the conditions "Fine! Alright! Just get me down already! I think my spine is crackling…" Seruhiko nodded to Gandolfini. When he saw that, he turned the safety off on his gun and rapidly fired at the roots holding the young man. After at least 10 shots the roots gave away and the young man fell to the ground in a heap.

"ouch… well **that** was graceful…" Both men watch the young man stand up and dust himself off. They notice for the first time that he was wearing nothing but dark clothing. Black shirt, black pants, even black shoes, and all of it was surrounded by a black cloke. The only thing that looked like it had color on him was his eyes, they where a gentle sky blue color which seemed out of place on him. After he gets done straitening himself out, The pale youth looks back at the two men "alright then, since you guys helped me out, I guess I should comply with your demands and follow you to whatever interrogation room ya have set up"

Both men look at each other at that last remark with Seruhiko lightly cringing "um… sorry if it came off that way, but we really just want to ask you a few questions, Honest" The Pale youth raised his eyebrows in amusement and lightly smiled "oh, social visit then? Alright then, let's go… eh… what are your names?" Seruhiko smiles and introduces himself "my name is Seruhiko, and the man next to me is Gandolfini- san" The dark skinned man only nods his head in greeting.

"Nice to meet you both, my name is Thane Mastizetai. Now that the intros are out of the way, let's go …uh… _'Socialize'_ with whoever we need to meet." The pale youth watched as the two men turned around and motioned for him to follow "this is getting better by the minute…" Thane lightly sighs and follows them. Thane suddenly felt a strange pang in his chest and he started to look around quickly, knowing that there was something close by _'what was that? It felt… similar…'_ "Something wrong?" Gandolfini was looking at him with some suspicion. Thane shook his head "no nothing…" he quickly followed, taking one more glance behind him _'I'll worry about it later…'_

**Xx almost 2 hours later xX**

Both men and Thane where standing outside a pair of large wooden double doors "alright, here we are. Seruhiko-kun, you stay here with him while I go talk with the headmaster." Gandolfini walked through the doors and lightly shut them behind him, Leaving Seruhiko and a bored youth in the hall.

Several awkward minutes passed by with Seruhiko observing the person they found. He had been very quiet when they had traveled through the tree roots, but when they had got to the surface; the young man named Thane got very excited upon seeing the Mahora campus for some reason and had started to pester them with questions about the campus and its history. They didn't reveal too much about it and had simply told him that the headmaster could answer his questions, but the truth was that they had no idea about whether he was a mage or not so they couldn't say much.

Seruhiko decided to break the silence "so…uh…Thane-san?" the pale youth looked at him with a blank face "yes?" "Are you perhaps a foreigner? We don't get a lot of people that look like you around here" Thane just looked at him for a few minutes before he answered the question "… foreigner… I guess that in a sense, yes I am."

Seruhiko found the way he worded that odd but didn't press at it "so what country are you from? America? Russia? Germany maybe?" Thane simply gave him a confused look. Before he could answer the question, the double doors opened again and Gandolfini stood at the doorway "both of you, come on in" was all he said before he disappeared behind the door.

Seruhiko motioned for Thane to go first, and they entered. Thane looked around the large office and the massive bookshelves that lined the walls. He looked around and saw a beautiful Oak desk with several nice chairs in front of it. He noticed that, Other than Gandolfini, there were three more people there. On the left of the desk he saw a beautiful older woman with Teal colored hair wearing a long skirt and long-sleeved shirt with a pair glasses on her face. Her most impressive feature however, was the nicely protruding bust on her chest.

Thane stared at her for a minute longer, feeling the heat rise to his face, before he turned and saw an older gentleman on the right. The man looked friendly enough with his work suite and glasses, but Thane could feel a calm pressure coming off the man as if he was expecting trouble. _"Oh that fellow is strong; I can feel him from over here."_ Thane gave the man a friendly smile before he turned his attention to the last unknown in the room.

Now Thane could tell without the shadow of a doubt that this old man was the headmaster simply from the way he held himself. He was wearing some strange looking clothing that Thane could not identify along with a pair of large gold earrings on his elongated earlobes. What caught Thanes attention about the man was his strangely shaped head; it looked almost like a gourd with a long white pony-tail coming out of the back.

The old man was smiling at him behind his beard. Thane stopped in front of the desk, waiting for what would happen next. The old man motioned for him to sit down, which Thane did with hesitation. Seruhiko walked up next to him "Headmaster, this is the person we found in the roots of the world tree. It is unknown if the strange signal we detected came from him or not, but so far nothing has happened"

The Headmaster simply observed the young man for a little while longer before he decided to say something. "Alright then, thank you Seruhiko-san, Gandolfini-san. Now for our young guest" Thane slightly stiffened at the Young part but was quiet. "Nice to meet you, my name is Konoemon Konoe, Headmaster of Mahora Academy; may I ask for your name young man?" Thane shrugged his shoulders "I don't see why not, my name is Thane Mastizetai. Now forgive me if I am being rude, but I have many questions that I need answered and quickly if at all possible."

The Headmaster raised his eyebrows in amusement "Oh? And why quickly?" Thane looked at the old man for a few seconds with a slight glare "because I have something important that needs to be done. I am afraid that is all I am able to tell you before you answer my questions." Thane closed his eyes and thought for a moment "but I do not ask for a one sided bargain, I am willing to provide you with any information that you so wish to know, I will let you have the courtesy of asking your questions first since I am the stranger here."

The dean bent forward and placed his elbows on his desk, his hands obscuring his mouth. Thane felt the piercing look of not just the old man, but of everyone else in the room. _'I hope I didn't just piss them all off'_ though he was feeling nervous about this, Thane wasn't letting it show on his face.

The old headmaster leaned back in his chair with a soft look on his face "very well Thane-san, I agree to your terms." Thane let his body relax, not realizing that he had been tense and let out a exasperated sigh "Oh thank you" the headmaster simply smiled "You are quiet welcome, now I would like you to answer these questions truthfully, but if there is something that you cannot answer please let me know."

Thane nodded his head in understanding "now for the first question. Is the name you just provided us with your real name or an alias?"

Thane slightly tensed at this "… the last name is real, but my first name is a nickname. If at all possible I would rather not tell you my real name, but I will tell you if it is necessary."

The Dean shook his head "that is not required, second question. What where you doing in the roots of the World tree and how did you get there?" Thane was lightly laughing at that one "_what_ I was doing was getting lost and somehow end up tied into a knot in some tree vines. As for how I got in there, I will need to ask a question of my own first" the Dean signaled for him to continue. Thane took a deep breath "does the word 'magic' mean anything to you people?" Thane quickly looked around the room and saw everybody's expressions go to mild shock except for the old man.

Konoe just observed him for a moment "then I take it that you are a mage?" Thane nodded his head "In a way, yes I am a user of the arcane arts." Thane saw everybody seem to relax at that info. The dean was tapping his fingers together in thought "which magic organization do you belong to? Kansai? Kanto? Or are you apart of the Western School of mages?" Thane gave the young man a curios look "I am sorry, but those names are unfamiliar to me…" Thane suddenly went into serious thought.

The headmaster watched him for a few minutes "is something the matter?"

Thane looked back at the old man with a serious look "… This may sound strange to you considering the situation, but I need to ask this." the deans eyebrows raised in a curious fashion "Go ahead." "What planet are we on?" Thane saw even the old man look at him with a strange look along with everybody else.

"Earth, last I remember" the old man watched the young man's expression change dramatically from neutral to surprise.

"… Earth? he…ha ha…**HA HA! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!**" Everybody in the room watched Thane laugh like a mad man for a good long while before he actually started to cry from laughing so hard. The older gentleman finally decided to interrupt him "may I ask what is so funny Thane-san?" the pale youth started to stop laughing and wiped away the tears from his eyes "he he…ha…*phew* because, I finally got away from the madness Mr.…?"

the older Gentleman gave him a nod "the names Takamichi T. Takahata, and what do you mean by _'madness'_?" Thane leaned back into his chair as if he was exhausted "The madness I talk about is the same as the madness of most men. War, and thanks to an accident on my part I and my little ones are now finally free from it all…" Thane looked up at the ceiling with closed eyes and an expression of peace.

The Headmaster wasn't done with his questions however "what war? And what do you mean _'little ones'_? Is somebody else down in the Tree roots?"

Thane looked at the old man with a grin "the war doesn't need to concern you people, it's in a place that will never effect your world. As for the little ones…" Thane reaches into his cloke and pulls out three small eggs that where the size of his fingernails. Thane noticed that everybody was confused "these are my little ones, my '_children_' if you would, or their souls anyway. They currently don't have corporeal forms so I will need to provide them with some in the near future. But enough about that. To answer your original question, I got to this world via a teleportation misfire. Do you have any more questions for me?"

Thane stuffed the small eggs in a pouch on his side and slung it around his neck for safety. The old man was leaning back into his chair "yes, a few more. You said that we need not worry about this war that you mentioned, saying that it wouldn't affect our world. If I read what you said just right, then you are saying that you are from a different world, am I right?"

Thane nodded his head to answer him "that is correct"

"is it Mundus Magicus?" Thane gave the old man another confused look "eh… Mundus magi-what? Sorry, but the world I hail from is called Estoria."

There was a silence in the room as heavy as lead. _'This can't be good…'_

The Headmaster looked at him while stroking his beard "that's very interesting…" the silence persisted in the room for a long while.

Thane was fidgeting in his chair from the uncomfortable feeling in the room "I'm sorry if this surprises you, but what I am saying is the truth"

Old man Konoe lightly chuckled "oh, don't worry, I believe you. However… I must know about this war you mentioned in your world. I know you said that it won't affect us, but if you could get here then so could your enemies in an attempt to chase you. I don't want to put my student's lives in danger simply because one man told me it was safe."

Thane could see the old man's point of view "Like I said Headmaster, you don't need to worry about it. The only reason I managed to get to this world was because… I'm rather _special_ in certain regards. Plus it wouldn't be my enemies you would worry about, but my _**Allies**_ so to speak"

Konoe noticed the amount of venom in the young man's voice on the one word, but decided to not delve into it. "Alright then… I am willing to believe that for the time being… Last question then."

Thane stood ridged at this, waiting to see what this would be about.

"Since you are now here, what are your plans? In other words, what are your plans for the future here at Mahora?"

There was a shocked look on Thanes face at the question "future, sir? I… hadn't thought about **my **future per say. My only plan was to restore my little ones back to their physical forms."

"And how do you plan to do that?" Thane saw the old man giving him a serious look, as if testing his next answer.

"The only way to restore them is a special ritual that will take a large amount of time. But it will only require me and a few magical reagents, no blood magic or demonic binding will be involved if that is what you are worried about."

Thane saw the look of slight confusion on the old man's face "I am familiar with the concept of demonic binding, but I have never heard of blood magic before."

"Good, because it is a vile form of magic and better off not being known to anybody else, but back to your original question. I have no plans for myself besides releasing my little ones from their bonds, anything after that… well… I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it."

The Headmaster smiled at him "I see. Well, thank you for being honest with me and having the patience to put up with an old man's questions. If there is anything that you would like to ask now, feel free."

Thane shook his head "no, all of my questions were answered in our earlier conversations. Though, I would ask a favor of you Master Konoemon Konoe."

"My, why the formality all of a sudden?" Thane stood up and got on both knees, and lowers himself so far to the ground that his head is touching the ground, which surprised everybody in the room " I would humbly ask you, if at all possible, to please give my little ones a chance to study at this Academy. Beyond the life of war, they know nothing and have a lack of a normal education or even a normal life. This is the only thing I would ask of you. In return, I will do any favor you ask of me, be it to teach you the magic of my world or any other task you see fit."

The headmaster was impressed by the young man's devotion to these _'little ones'_ "Very well. I will not turn away a child's opportunity to learn and I will happily take them under my wing to study. So please Thane-san, go ahead and stand, you don't need to beg for such a request."

Thane got back up and sat back in the chair

"however, **your** fate has yet to be decided, and such a decision will not be made easily. Though I do not doubt your intentions, I am still not sure of what kind of power you can wield, so I must keep an eye on you for the time being. Give me one week however, and I will have come to a decision of what to do with you"

Thane bowed to the older man again, though not on his knees this time "thank you. You have shown me much kindness despite my shaky origins, and have even given my little ones a chance at new life."

"No trouble at all, however I have a question concerning your children."

Thane stood back up quickly "What is it?"

"Will they have a Physical form by the end of the week? The new term begins next Monday and I would like to go ahead and put their names down for classes"

Thane looked confused "uhhhhh… I would hate to ask this of you but… how do you measure time in your world?"

Thane saw the well endowed lady take the stand on this one "Sorry, allow me to answer that. My name is Minamoto Shizuna, nice to meet you Thane-san" She held her hand up in greeting. Thane was looking at her hand, but his eyes kept glancing over at her chest _'this woman is friggen huge! In the military back home, she wouldn't even be allowed in because those things would be a __**distraction**__ from the troops'_ All this was going on in his head but his face showed no sign of it.

Thane held out his hand and shook hers "likewise." She gave him a friendly smile "in answer to your question, we measure time like so. One year is divided into twelve months. One month ranges from 29 to 31 days but the average is 30. One day is twenty four hours. An hour is 60 minutes, and one minute is sixty seconds. Would you like for me to repeat it?"

Thane had his eyes closed and was lightly mumbling "…some things are…some similarities… No you don't need to repeat it. I got it, and I am surprised to see that there are many similarities in how we keep time, so in answer to your question Headmaster, it will take about four months to release them, though that's a shaky estimate based on the types of reagents I can find."

"Ah I see, Thank you. You are dismissed" Thane bowed and walked out of the office. After he closed the door he walked down the hall a little and suddenly slumped to the floor "Oh Sweet Terrathrax! I thought I was gonna be locked up or something!" _'My poor legs where knocking the whole time! Man… It is not easy to put on the cool and collected mask. But at least I managed to stay free. And the best part is no more wars! By Terrathrax, I thought I was going to sing when he told me I was in a different dimension! I got really lucky when that thing misfired, plus I am the only one in my world who __**can**__ warp to different planes of existence. Super lucky! But I can't celebrate just yet. I need to get the reagents for Levy, Dark, and Troy so they can get their bodies back.'_

"You alright there Thane-san?"

"**HOLY FRIGGEN CRAP!" **Thane literally jumps into the air and lands on his butt with a loud thud. He quickly turns around and sees Takahata T. Takamichi grinning at him with an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

"Ah ha ha! Sorry, did I scare you? Didn't mean to." Thane quickly gets up and dusts himself off, putting on his serious face "*ah-hum* no not really, I was just startled that's all Takahata Sir"

Takamichi gives Thane a strange look.

Thane slightly squirms under his gaze "um… is something the matter sir?"

"Kinda. You know, you can stop forcing the _'cool guy'_ act. Everybody knows you where acting, I mean it was good acting, would defiantly fool anybody without the proper training, but to people like me and the headmaster, it seemed rather forced."

The instant he said that, Thanes cool guy act melts away like ice in an oven "seriously! Aw man! And I thought I was doing ok…"

Takamichi laughed again "Like I said, not bad, but not perfect either. By the way, you don't need to be so formal with me either; just Takamichi is fine with me."

Thane looked at the older gentleman with a dejected look "so what do ya need? Headmaster decide to lock me up anyway?"

"No, no nothing like that. You heard him right? We need to keep an eye on you. Guess who the eyes are."

Thane kept staring at Takamichi "… are you saying you're going to watch me for a whole week? 24/7?"

Takamichi took out a lighter and lit his cigarette "not all the time, but I'm gonna keep my eyes on you for a while until the Dean decides what to do with you. Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to hound you every day. You'll still get some time to yourself, just… mostly under my supervision. So come on, let's take a walk around campus shall we?"

Takamichi waved for him to follow as he walked down the hall.

Thane could only shake his head and sigh "should have known better…" "Come on Thane-kun, there's a lot of campus to explore and not as many hours in the day to do it" Thane jerks quickly and dashes after Takahata yelling "yes! Coming!" The pair exits the building and, with Takamichi in the lead, begin to explore Mahora academy.

**Xx Several hours into the exploration xX**

At this point in time, Thane had grown to love Mahora academy. Its sheer size and lively atmosphere had left him stunned when Takamichi had shown him the view from a bird's eye perch.

From there, the older gentleman had shown him all the popular shops and restaurants, even paying for the food as they went.

Thane had a bitter-sweet crepe in his hand and was staring at it with childlike wonder "these 'crepe' things are awesome! Along with the ramen, sukiyaki, hotpots, even the Fried squid balls where great! What did you call em? Tako-something or other?"

Takamichi lightly chuckled at the pale youth's enthusiasm "Takoyaki. And you're welcome"

Thane suddenly realized that he was behaving like a child and quickly apologized "Ah! Forgive me Takamichi! I must look like some kind of dork right about now…"

The older man just laughed at him "Don't worry about it Thane-kun, but I can guess from the way you're acting that you didn't really get to have a lot of fun in your world eh?"

Thane's face took a serious and sad tone at this "no, I never really had fun in Estoria. I was always in fights and dealing with… unsavory characters to keep me and my little ones safe. There was never really much time for _'fun' _"

Takamichi was silent while he puffed on his cigarette "sorry about that. I guess I brought up something painful huh?"

Thane shook his head quickly "Oh! No! Don't worry about it! I mean, I'm away from all of that now, so I don't have to worry about fighting anymore!" Thane Nods his head to this idea "yep… nothing but peace to fill out my days from now on"

There was silence for a little while before either of them broke it. "So Thane-kun, what is your impression of Mahora so far?"

Thane's eyes quickly lit up "there are no words to describe it! The place simply radiates a vigorous atmosphere! Not to mention all the great views and places to eat! I mean, look at all these mythical creatures!" Thanes eyes where scanning most of the female populace as he said that.

"That's an odd way to put it. I take it that you haven't had a lot of dealings with the opposite sex before?" Takamichi pulled out his lung killer and snuffed it out, placing it in a garbage can.

Thane shook his head while keeping his eyes on all the girls "No, not when you're a part of the military, tends to be a _'distraction' _for the troops."

Takamichi gave him a surprised look "you're a military man?"

Thane suddenly realized what he just said "oh… you weren't supposed to know that…"

Takamichi just gave him a strange look "cats out of the bag now, mind telling me about it?"

Thane simply sighed "I can't really tell you much. I guess it would be easier to say that, though I was a part of the fighting, I was never a part of the Military. Anymore than that, I don't really want to discuss, if that's alright with you…"

Takamichi just lightly smiled "it's alright, everybody has a skeleton or two in there closet. I won't try to dig yours out till your ready"

Thane was slightly shocked to see that he didn't prod, but he smiled at this anyway "Thanks…"

Takamichi kept smiling before he noticed a large clock "wow! Is it really 4:30? Time sure flies when you're having fun, eh Thane-kun?" However, Thane was not paying attention to him and was staring wide eyed at something. Takamichi gave him a confused look "eh… Thane-kun? Are you alright?"

Thane lifted his free hand and pointed to a building "Takamichi is that what I think it is?"

Takamichi looked at where he was pointing and saw the junior-high Library. "well, if you think it's a library, then yeah you would be-"

The sound of a formula 1 race car can be heard followed by a sudden gust of wind. Takamichi looked over at the spot that the Pale youth was standing and only saw a trail of smoke leading straight to the library doors "hot damn… he's fast when he wants to be…" Takamichi quickly followed the vanishing smoke trail.

When he got to the entrance however, he saw that Thane was standing right outside the doors looking at something on the wall. Takamichi walked up beside him and saw what had stopped him. **'No food allowed beyond this point'** Thane was glaring at the sign as if it was an evil little bug that he couldn't crush.

He kept taking glance from the sign to the half eaten cherry-melon crepe in his hand._ "Damn you sign! What did my crepe ever do to you! You will rue the day you got between me, my knowledge, and food!"_

Takamichi was lightly laughing at this predicament "hey, if you want, I can-"

before he could finish that statement, Thane threw his arms into the air "Fine! Food is temporary, but knowledge is forever!"

Before Takahata could ask what he was talking about, Thane proceeded to stuff the whole pastry into his mouth, causing his cheeks to bulge like a chipmunk.

The sight was so funny that Takahata had to throw his hand in front of his mouth to keep from busting a gut.

Thane tries to chew the large amount of food in his mouth and proceeds to try to swallow. "Wait Thane-kun, you might cho-"

too late.

Thane starts to grab at his throat, his air passages blocked by the quickly-becoming-lethal pastry. Takahata only sighs and quickly punches him in the back to dislodge the deadly crepe.

Thane finally manages to get it down his throat and begins to cough furiously for a good 3 or 4 minutes before he recovers enough to talk.

"Are you alright now Thane-kun? Thought I was going to have to call the medics for a second there" Takamichi was observing the youth with a mild look of amusement.

Thane was rubbing his sore throat "yes, I'm fine now Takamichi. Now onward to the wonderland that is books! I'm coming my sweet flowers!"

Thanes eyes where sparkling in excitement as he dashed through the double doors. Takahata was laughing again "that guys got a ton of energy… kinda reminds me of Yuna-san…" The older gentleman goes through the doors as well and almost bumps into Thane in the process.

Thane was not paying attention and was looking at the vast amount of books with a dreamy expression on his face "I think I died and found my heaven… ahhhh…"

Takahata only shook his head while smiling. At that same instant, Takahatas cell-phone started buzzing. He pulled it out and saw that it was the headmaster.

Thane was busy looking at the vast amount of books in his line of sight, trying to figure out where to start, his hand rubbing his chin in concentration. _'Ohhh! There is so much reading to be done! Should I start with the fiction? Or maybe the myths and legends? Ohhh…How about the Philosophy? Does this world even have Philosophy? No! The first thing I need to read is this world's history! Need to familiarize myself with my new home; better get some about this campus while I'm at it'_

**"Thane-kun!"**

"Waugh!" Thane jumps at the sudden shout and turns to see Takamichi putting his small phone away

"Finally… something's come up and I need to go check it out. Can I trust you to stay here while I'm gone? It shouldn't take very long."

Thane quickly salutes to him "yes sir! I'll be here when you get back!" _'Not like I would go anywhere else anyway.'_ Takamichi nods his head and quickly leaves the library. Thane turns back toward the vast display of books and begins to wander in search of this new world's history.

**Xx An hour and a half later xX**

After a good bit of time spent searching the vast Library, Thane could officially consider himself lost. Though he really wasn't complaining about it, considering the large stack of books in his hands. _'Ok, so I may have deviated from my original train of study, but I'll read it all eventually! I mean, look at it all! There is nothing like any of this in my world!'_

Thane saw an empty table to place his books and set them down there. He then started to look around for more books before he saw something besides Literature. He saw that there was another person in the library with him, a girl with a purple helmet like-hair to be precise.

She was on a ladder with a large stack of books in her left hand while reaching out with her right to try to grab another, hanging off the ladder rather dangerously.

_'She shouldn't do that. She could fall and hurt herself, especially with such a large amount of weight on her pers-' _before Thane could finish that thought, he saw the girl lose her footing.

"Kyaaaaaaa!" Thane watched her start to fall in what seemed like slow motion.

"Watch it!" Thane quickly dashes under her and reaches out to catch her. Thane manages to grab her around her waist, though it was an awkward catch considering his face was under her skirt and in close proximity to her rear.

Oh, he also was on the verge of falling, though not from a dangerous height.

"Ah WA WA WA WA WA!" The poor girl was struggling madly, her arms flailing wildly and her legs kicking at the unknown force that kept her aloft. Thane was receiving many kicks to his lower body while trying to keep them from falling on both their butts, while also trying not to think about where his head was

"OW! Stop kicking me you-OW! I'm trying ta he- OW!" The girls' kicks continued with no sign of stopping. Thane, having had enough of kicks to his stomach, squeezes her around her middle to get her attention "HEY! KNOCK IT OFF!" the girl stops her kicks and freezes.

"Good, now let-" Before he continues, a loud shout is heard behind him **"let go of Nodoka you pervert!"** Thane turns his head around and sees a rather small looking teenage girl with large pigtails that where a light violet color and a wide forehead charge at him and launches head first into his back, causing him to drop the girl to the ground.

Thane falls to the ground, pushing his now out of place back.

"Go get help Nodoka! I'll keep this guy busy!" The forehead girl was holding a pair of books and was getting ready to start bashing the perverts head in. The one named Nodoka, however, was trying to explain to her friend what just happened "wa- wait Yue! He didn't do anything wrong! He was only trying to help me!"

the one named Yue was looking at her friend with confusion on her face "what? He had his face up your skirt! How is that helping!"

Thane slowly started to get back up, the pain in his back now subsiding "the only reason that happened was because she fell and I caught her wrong. I had no ill intentions for the girl." the Yue girl kept looking back and forth between the pair and eventually put the books down "can one of you please explain from the beginning what I saw there a moment ago?"

**Xx a few minutes of explanation later xX**

Yue was bowing her head in apology "I am so sorry sir! I simply reacted without thinking, and caused you harm even though you where only trying to help!"

Thane was simply waving Yue's apology aside "there is no harm done, minus the dislocated disk in my back. You where only trying to help your friend here, so stop worrying about it Miss…?"

The girl named Yue quickly stood up "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Yue Ayase" The other girl nodded her head "Eh… my… my name is Nodoka Miyazaki… Thank you for helping me earlier Stranger-san"

Thane noticed the strange name she just gave him "Oh, sorry. I should probably introduce myself after you ladies where so kind to do so." Thane cleared his throat "my name is Thane Mastizetai. Nice to make your acquaintance Nodoka, Yue"

Thane gave them both a bright smile to show that he was a friendly soul. Nodoka sees the smile and begins to relax while Yue gives a small smile of her own. Yue clears her throat as well "well, now that all the misunderstandings are out of the way, would it be alright if I ask you a question or two Mastizetai-san?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "I don't mind, but on one condition"

Yue's expression didn't change at all "what is it?"

"don't call me by my last name. It's rather long and annoying and can be a bit of a problem when you try to say it multiple times. So just call me Thane, alright?"

Yue nodded her head once "understood, that brings me to my first question. Are you a foreigner Thane-san?"

Thane sat down in a chair and looked up at the girl "yes, as a matter of fact I come from America. I am an exchange student from the… uh… Estoria elitist school of genius and advancement or EGA for short." Thane and Takamichi had decided to make some kind of cover story for him incase people started to ask any questions about him.

Yue raises her eyebrows in surprise at this "I've never heard of that school before, have you heard of it Nodoka?" The girl shook her head "never"

Thane noticed that her bangs covered her eyes, obscuring most of her face. _'Pity, I bet she has cute eyes'_ "it's no wonder you have never heard of it before. The school is only known to a selected few and will only allow the best of the best to attend its halls. The amount of people that actually attend the school ranges less than 200." _'That sounds convincing, hopefully they buy it'_

Nodoka looked impressed by this "so… you're saying that you're a super elite?"

Thane knew that he would have to pick his words carefully in fear that he trips over one of his own lies "sort of. You see, my education is still rather lacking so I was transferred to Mahora to complete my education in certain things."

Yue continued to observe him "that's Impressive Thane-san. However, this leads me to my next question. Now I don't know how incomplete your education is, but I noticed that you haven't put any Honorifics on mine or Nodoka's names. I don't know if your being very formal or not, but in the Japanese culture, that is considered rather rude."

Thane was looking at her with some growing fear in his gut "… Honor…ifics?"

Yue left for a moment, leaving him and Nodoka to ponder for a little while before she returned with a book "here, this should explain better than I could Thane-san"

Thane picked it up and observed it _**"Japanese honorifics: a way of life"**_ Thane looked it over and began to read it _'thankfully I can read and understand nearly all languages due to my small reserves of magic. Thank goodness for the small blessings'_ Thane continued to read, and the more he read the more he began to understand.

He places the book on the table. A few minutes of silence ensue. Thane quickly throws himself on the floor, hands and forehead on the ground, which surprised both the girls. "I am so sorry! I have insulted both you and myself in the most despicable manner! I have dragged my tongue through a sewer of my own arrogance! I am less than a human being and hence seek both of your forgiveness in my lack of even an appropriate greeting and my sheer stupidity!"

Nodoka was panicking trying to stop the display, while Yue was trying to get him to be a little quieter. " No! it's Ok! You obviously didn't know! We are not insulted at all! Right Nodoka?" the Girl quickly bobs her head in quick agreement.

Thane stops ranting for a moment "you mean it? You both aren't disgusted with my person?" they both nod their head in Unison quickly, hoping that the foreigner will be a little less loud. Thane stands back up and dusts himself off with a light blush on his face "he he… Thanks, and sorry about that. I tend to overact to things..."

Both Yue and Nodoka gave a nervous laugh.

Thane sat back down and looked at the two girls "well, if you are done with your questions, may I ask one of my own Yue?... uh -san?"

Nodoka lightly giggled at his awkward attempt, causing him to blush more deeply. "sure, what do you need answered Thane-san?"

"Could I ask both you and Nodoka…-san to help me with finding books on both world history and Japanese history? I hate to admit it but I got lost before I stumbled across you both."

Nodoka seemed to jump at this opportunity "sure! In what ages are you looking for?" Thane thought about it for a moment "as far back as possible, even though I am an Elite student, I may find something in the history books here that weren't anywhere else" Yue nodded her head "I'll help out as well" The trio all set about looking for books with a great amount of energy.

**Xx About an hour later xX**

Thane and the two library girls had come to be fast friends in a short period of time, mostly due to their scholarly interest in books and literature.

Yue and Thane would discuss about Philosophical out-looks on everything while he and Nodoka would just share in small talk about most any good book. During that time Thane also had the opportunity to meet Haruna Saotome, the third member of the Library trio, he also had grown to like her crazy if not slightly dangerous ways of thinking.

"So you say you're from an elitist school so elite, that even elites have trouble getting in? This sounds like the beginning of a cliché Shoujo manga! Or better yet, the begging of a mystery! Mark my words you two! There will be a murder by the end of next Tuesday, with mister Pretty boy here at the heart of it all! Oh I think my imagination is on fire!"

Thane was giving her a nervous laugh _'this girl is nuts! But in a good way, I like it'_

Yue was only shaking her head at Haruna's overactive imagination, while Nodoka's face was unreadable behind her hair. But Thane could see a smile on her mouth. Yue leaned in close and whispered into his ear "sorry about her Thane-san, she can be a little… eccentric at times"

Thane was only laughing lightly "no problem Yue-chan, I kinda like it." Thane looked over at the clock and saw the time " Sweet mother of Luxitaries! Is it really 6:30! Damn! Where is Takamichi?"

The library trio looked shocked when he said that, which in turn, caused Thane to look at them with a quizzical look of his own "what? Did I say something funny?"

Yue was the first to say something "Takahata-sensei? As in older man with graying head of hair with a light beard, glasses and Cigarette in mouth most of the time Takahata-sensei?"

Thane looked at her with recognition on his face "hey! Do you know him as well Yue-chan?"

Haruna got up quickly "of course we do! He's our homeroom teacher! How do **you** know him?"

_'he's a teacher? Funny, didn't strike me as the teaching type'_ "Takamichi is kinda my guide while I am here in Mahora, though he is kinda late right now" Thane got up and bowed to the girls " well I better head on and see if I can find him. I'll see you girls tomorrow, if you're here that is."

Thane bowed again and left the Library, the girls waving back at him. Thane was outside looking around to see if Takamichi was on his way or if there was something waiting for him. Nothing, Thane was getting slightly pissed, mostly due to the fact that he was getting hungry and didn't have a way to pay for his food.

"Where is that old man?..." Suddenly Thane saw Nodoka running at him calling out his name "Thane-kun! Wait!"

Thane watched as she got closer until she stopped to catch her breath "what is it Nodoka-chan? Need me for something?"

Nodoka slightly blushed at being called _'chan'_ but quickly shook herself out of it "here, this is from Takahata- sensei" Nodoka handed him a letter with _'to Thane-kun'_ on the face.

Thane took the letter from her and opened it. Its contents, however, left him with an angry scowl on his face _'sorry Thane-kun, something has come up and I won't be able to keep my eye on you. Here is 10000 yen for the rest of the week, hope you behave yourself. From Takahata T. Takamichi'_ Thane was visibly shaking at this point in anger. _'that stupid old man! I don't know how to use Japanese currency!'_ "And where the Carotis am I gonna sleep tonight!"

that last part was said out loud as Nodoka was looking at Thane as he continued fuming to himself "Um… Thane-san… if… if you want… you can stay at the dorm with me, Yue, and Haruna!"

Thane quickly looked at her with some confusion in his eyes "Huh?"

the Library girls' cheeks where very red as she tried to continue "um… well… I was just… thinking that, since you saved me from breaking my neck earlier… I thought I might return the favor… if you want to… that is…"

Thane looked at the girl in stunned silence for a few more seconds before he burst out in laughter "AH HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! Oh Nodoka-chan! You are too much!" Thane walks over, placing his right hand on her head and starts ruffling her hair, all while giving her a big smile.

"AWAWAWAWAWAWAW!" Nodoka was confused and could only blubber out incoherent noises in confusion.

"you don't need to force yourself to endure a male presence in your own home now do you? I can tell that your shy around guys, but you did very well in staying close to me the whole time. Plus, I might just be a really bad guy trying to get into a girls house"

Thane was surprised to see a look of strength in her eyes "I don't think a person who loves books as much as you do could do bad things Thane-san!"

Thane was taken aback at the confidence in her voice, but after a few seconds of stunned silence he starts to blush and puts her in a head lock, all while giving her a light noogie "aw, your making me blush Nodoka-chan"

"AYE YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!" she starts to flap her arms madly due to the sudden discomfort on her quickly heating scalp.

Thane quickly lets go and gives her another smile "you're a sweet girl, you know that? But I still won't take you up on that offer."

Nodoka was about to protest when he holds up his hand to silence her "but if you really want to repay me, let me do something here real quick. You got to promise not to flinch, ok No-do-ka-chan?"

the librarian suddenly started to blush from his kiddy talk, but before she could do anything, Thane quickly got close while pushing his face mere inches from her own and lifted up her bangs to reveal a twin set of light Violet colored eyes.

Nodoka started to blush madly and Thane quickly pulled away, a mischievous grin on his face "I was right. You do have cute eyes; you really shouldn't hide those you know?"

Thane takes a bow and walks away, leaving Nodoka slightly dazed and confused. She watches him walk away and starts to lightly tug on her bangs "he said I had cute eyes…"

Thane was walking away with a huge blush on his face _'my face was mere inches from a girl! One large step for me! While being a small step to getting over my shyness of girls.'_

**Xx several hours later (9:30) xX**

Thane was sitting on a bench under a street lamp with a dangerous look on his face, and when I say dangerous, I mean you don't get close in fear that you lose an arm or a leg.

_ 'well after I left the Library, everything went to shit. I get lost on campus in hopes of finding some kind of motel, and when I finally do find one, it's booked to capacity. I suddenly get hit by a freak wind storm and get blown into a mud pile when some damn light green bluer runs me over. I think it was a robot, followed by some mad scientist looking chick riding some two wheeled thing. Ran my damn face over. And when I go and try to wash the grim off in a pond some cop comes along and calls me a hobo trying to arrest me for public indecency. I mean seriously! My shirt was the only thing off! I think the only good thing to happen in the last few hours was the bath I managed to get, but I still had to break into a gym to do it!.'_

Thane quickly stands up and starts to shout out "what in the name Luxitaries did I do to deserve this!" Thane saw the most retarded looking dog thing he had ever seen waddle out of the shadows over to him and proceed to take a piss on his feet.

The cross eye drooling retard quickly waddled back the way it came. Thane looked at his feet and at the spot the creature disappeared, suddenly swearing loud profanities that would make a sailor cringe.

After a few more minutes of profanities, Thane took his shoes off and placed them under the bench, leaning back on the bench with a defeated expression " I should have accepted Nodoka's offer… no use crying over broken glass, best just to make do with my current situation."

Thane yawned loudly and unbuttoned his cloke, using it to cover himself up _' at least the night is warm, so I don't have to worry about catching a cold.'_

After a few minutes of sitting huddled up, Thane took off his pouch around his neck and spilled the small eggs out onto his open palm. He proceeded to roll them around in his hand for a moment or two before he kissed each one.

"Good night Levy, Dark, Troy. I bet tomorrow will be an even better day for us." He placed the eggs back in the pouch and strung it back around his neck, a sad smile on his face.

Thane looked up at the sky and proceeded to observe the night sky. "Kinda sad that there aren't as many stars here as there is in Estoria. I miss the Ever night forest now. We could always see billions of stars anytime we wanted to. Oh well, this will be our new home now… Not That Thane Mastizetai had a home in the first place…" Thane only sighed as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

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><p>So what did you all think? did you enjoy it? should it be tossed into the dredges of hell, never to be gazed upon by human eyes? I'll never know if you don't leave a review! But my hope is that you enjoyed it!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Here is Part 2 of the Pale Roots Prologue! I hope you all enjoy!

*Insert legal stuff here*

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><p>Pale Roots<p>

Prologue Part 2: the visitor's day

Setsuna Sakurazaki, Born: January 17, 1989.

Her blood type is A. In western astrology, she is born under Capricorn. In the Chinese zodiac she is born under the Dragon.

Her likes? Sword training, Konoka Konoe.

Her dislikes? Injustice, chatting.

Her seat number is 15 in class 2-A.

Unique traits? A swordswoman of the Shinmei Ryu School, and also decent in the way of Onmyou.

Her physical stature looks rather small and slim with pale white skin, included with black hair that she ties into a side ponytail that seems to curve in a strange arc, much like a small wing. A true Japanese beauty if you can get past the evil eye she gives everybody.

The strength she wields is immense, which allows her to use the demon slaying Blade Yunagi, a Nodachi.

Setsuna is a reserved young woman with a sensible, patient, and responsible attitude. Though she can be… over earnest at times.

Her schedule is a good indicator of this, 4:30 A.M- 6:30 A.M: Jogging and Sword practice. 6:30 A.M – 8:30 P.M, shadow Konoka. A very dedicated woman; for she has religiously followed this schedule for 3 years since Konoka came to Mahora academy. And in all that time, nothing of particular interest had happened to interrupt her schedule.

That is, until today.

Now every morning, Setsuna would suite up in regular jogging clothes and would jog around campus, letting the crisp cool campus air fill her lungs. She had always found it refreshing while she carried Yunagi on her back, the familiar blade adding a little more weight to her run.

Setsuna would always stop at a certain bench in one of the parks that she passed through to take a bite out of her onigiri for breakfast.

Today, however, a stranger was sleeping on her favorite bench, a certain dark clothed, pale faced, white haired young man to be precise.

His act of sleeping isn't what made her stop and look at him, oh no.

she saw many college students take naps on these benches when they got tired, she herself would sometimes do the same.

No, the thing that made her stop was the strange aura that came off the man. It was faint, almost not even worth noticing, but it just felt… odd to her. So she decided to inquire about this stranger that took her favorite bench.

She stood next to the Young man and started to call out "excuse me"

No reaction.

She tried again; a little louder this time "Excuse Me!"

all she got was a twitch in his eye this time. She cleared her voice, thinking that she would need to be rather loud **"Excuse Me!"**

Thane just simply rolled over and covered his head with the Black Cloak.

Setsuna had a twitch growing in her temple at this point _'alright then, I guess I'm going to have to get physical'_ Setsuna reached over and yanked the cloak off of the pale youth, which in turn, caused him to roll over and allow her to see his face for the first time.

What she saw caused a light blush to come over her face, she was not used to seeing many guys her age, and the few that she did didn't have that _'something'_ that she liked.

She could readily find it in his face however.

She was so intent at looking at him that when she looked at his eyes, she saw that they were open and where giving her a questioning look.

"Woah!" Setsuna quickly took a few steps back, holding her arms up defensively as if to stop his sky blue gaze.

The two of them stare at the other for a few more seconds before Thane slowly gets up.

He then proceeds to put his shoes on and stands up right in front of Setsuna, their eyes never leaving the other.

Setsuna noticed that he was a good head taller then she was.

Thane slowly points his finger at her and takes a deep breath "…THIEF! THIEF! RETURN MY PROPERTY!"

Setsuna jumps at the sudden shout and throws her arms up into the air in surprise "wa- Wait! I'm not a thie-"

before she could stop the accusation, Thane quickly jumps over her, snatching the cloak from her hands and lands right behind her, Cloak already put back on.

With a lot of flourish, Thane points at her with his right hand while his left hand is holding his head back in a royal fashion "Ha ha! Thought you could steal from me! Well think again my pretty little thief! You will regret the day that you thought you could steal from Thane Mastizetai!"

Setsuna was lightly blushing at the pretty part, but quickly tried to make an argument "wait! Please! You got it all wrong! I'm not a thief! I was only-!"

"No excuses! Prepare to feel the iron fist of justice!"

Setsuna watched him for a second more _'What is he going to do? He leaped over me relatively easily. Was it a shundo? So does that mean he is a warrior?'_

Thane looked at her for a few more seconds before he cupped his hands over his mouth "SECURITY!"

Setsuna did an anime style fall at this stupid gag "weren't you going to bring the iron fist of justice yourself!"

Thane gave her a confused look "what are you, nuts? I could get hurt if I did it myself! So I am bringing the iron fist of justice by the proper authorities, A.K.A a police force"

Setsuna did another fall "Would you just listen to me for a second!-?"

Thane stopped calling and gave her suspicious look "alright, I'll listen. But only because your pretty."

Setsuna blushed madly at the unexpected complement; she wasn't used to such things.

**Xx a few minutes of explanation later xX**

Thane had his hand behind his head and was giving Setsuna a sheepish look "ah ha! Ha! Ha! Sorry about that! I guess I shouldn't jump to conclusions"

Setsuna was shaking her head at the whole predicament "you see? I'm not a thief. You however, are a different story" Setsuna gave him a serious look.

Thane held his hands up to guard himself from her evil eye glare "woah there! I'm not suspicious, despite my attire. I am actually a rather friendly fellow you see."

Setsuna continued observing him with an icy stare "then would you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "I don't see why not. The headmaster asked me a lot of questions as well"

_'man what the heck am I? A friggen Q&A ball?'_

Setsuna was surprised to hear that "wait, the headmaster is already aware of you?"

Thane nodded his head "yeah, since yesterday in fact."

Setsunas face lost the ice queen effect and was looking at him in mild shock "who are you?"

Thane gave her a confused look "didn't I already introduce myself? Oh well, my name is Thane Mastizetai"

Setsuna bowed her head in acknowledgement "I see, well then Mastizetai-san, could you please tell me what is with the strange aura that is leaking from you?"

Thane was slightly shocked to hear that, but he didn't show it on his face "oh… you noticed that? And I was trying so hard to hide it to…" Thane looked away for a second and sat back down on the bench, allowing silence to permeate the air.

"Well, pretty thief-" Setsuna quickly spoke up "I'm not _'thief'_! My name is Setsuna Sakurazaki! Didn't we just clarify that!-?"

Thane lightly chuckled at her "oh I know. I just didn't know what to call you by Sakurazaki-san, plus I was teasing you"

Thane gave her a jolly smile while she just gave a tired sigh "as I was saying Sakurazaki-san, the aura you are feeling is the representation of my constant drain of magic energy. Right now my magic is at an all time low, less than 2% really, and it will remain that way until I accomplish a certain task"

Setsuna was analyzing this info carefully, checking to see if he was lying "I find that rather hard to believe. I have felt magical energy before, and yours just feels… abnormal is the only word that comes to mind."

Thane leaned his head back to look at the early morning sky and sighed. Setsuna felt her face slightly flush again when she saw his calm expression "there are two reasons for that. Reason number one. Because my magic is so very low I have to use… other sources to compensate. I can't tell you what, but they are safe, I guarantee it."

Setsuna felt that she should have asked more about it, but she felt… comfortable with his answer for some reason.

"Reason number two. Even if I was at full power, it would still feel rather abnormal to anybody of this world, simply because my power doesn't steam from this world, but of my previous home world Estoria"

At that moment you could have told Setsuna that Konoka was a boy and that wouldn't have been the biggest surprise for her today. "What!-?"

Thane lightly chuckled "what? Is it really so strange a concept? Talking with a person from a different dimension miss swordswoman?"

Setsuna thought that she couldn't be any more surprised than she was right now "what the!... how do you?..."

Thane let a wave of seriousness flow from his person "wondering how I know you're a swordsman? 4 reasons. One, you have the aura of a warrior about you. Two, your palms are heavily calloused, that indicates that you do many practice swings with a weapon of some sort. Reason number three also allowed me to figure out what weapon you use. You have a scar in between both the thumb and index finger on your left hand. That kind of scar can only come from somebody who would use a Katana, and thus the proper sheathing technique."

Setsuna subconsciously held her left hand in her right in an attempt to hide the scar _'how in the world did he see that! Yes there is a scar there, but it's far too light to be seen unless you look at it close up!'_

Thane looked her directly in the eye with such a serious tone, that she actually flinched "and the last reason, the most important one of all… is…"

Setsuna was hanging on his every word, waiting for what he would say next.

"… You're carrying a big ass sword on your back" all seriousness had left his person at this point.

Setsuna did the third fall in a row for that day "oh come on! All that serious deduction and you kill the mood with that!-?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "what? It's the first thing I noticed. How many people in this world carry Nodachi's on their back? It just screams _'I'm a swordsman!'_"

Setsuna gave a heavy sigh _'I can't tell if this guy is being serious or not…wait, how did he know what kind of sword I carried? Never mind, trying to figure him out is giving me a headache'_

She sighed again "alright, I guess I can believe you for the time being. I never detected any ill intent from you, and you don't seem like an evil person."

Thane gave her a smile "That makes me happy, knowing that a pretty girl like you would vouch for my innocence"

Setsuna blushed again _'why does he keep saying that?... and why do I blush every time he does for that fact? Not that I dislike it… but still!'_

"A-anyway, I need to get back to my jog. I don't have a lot of time in my day to waste" She bowed to him "if you'll excuse me…"

"ah wait!" Thane held up his hand to stop her.

Setsuna stopped and looked at him with a quizzical look "yes?"

Thane stood up and started to stretch "Mind if I join you? I haven't had a decent work out since I got here"

Setsuna gave him a doubtful look, but quickly tried to cover it up.

Thane noticed it and gave her an annoyed expression "you just thought I couldn't do it, didn't you?"

"Eep!" Setsuna tried to avert her eyes from his _'can he read minds?'_

"No, but I can read your expression easily enough"

Setsuna held her arms up in a defensive pose _'he is defiantly reading my mind!'_

Setsuna composes herself and clears her throat "we-Well, it's not that I don't think you can do it… it's just that… you…don't… look like you have a lot of stamina"

Thanes expression went from annoyed, to super annoyed "Ha! I knew it! You really where judging by my appearance! Fine then little Miss Swordswoman! Let me show you just how wrong you are!"

Thane walked over right next to Setsuna and got into a sprinters position.

Setsuna, however, was confused "what are you doing?"

Thane gave her a sharp look "getting ready for our race"

Setsuna was still confused "what race?"

Thane quickly got up into her face "the race where you and I run like madmen to a certain destination with nothing but beating the other in mind! That race!"

Thane didn't notice, but Setsunas cheeks where bright red from the close proximity of their faces.

He quickly backs off, much to Setsunas relief, and starts to scan the campus for a moment or two before he lights up in excitement "Ah-Ha! There! That is where we will race to!"

Setsuna saw where he was looking and was shocked. He was looking in the direction of the world tree, which was a good mile and a half run. "Wait what! The world tree? That's too long! I mean, I have many things I need to do and-"

Thane gave her an annoying smile "oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that it would be too long for you. Perhaps we should change the target to somewhere of your choice."

Setsuna was getting annoyed at his condescending tone and started to glare at him "very well then Mastizetai-san, I accept your challenge."

Both Setsuna and Thane got into a running position and waited for the right moment.

Setsuna, feeling a little confidant, decided to try to scare her opponent while keeping her eyes forward "I don't mean to brag, But I know this academy like the back of my hand, your chances of winning are very low. What do you have to say to that?"

"I'd say I'm already half-way there, halfway there, half-way…"

Setsuna quickly turned to see a… tape recorder looping in the place he was standing previously.

"NYA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Setsuna turned to her front to see Thane already about 400 feet ahead and laughing madly.

_ 'How the hell did he do that!-?'_

She quickly gave chase, hoping to close the distance. After a mere few seconds, Setsuna had caught up to him, and was running beside him, determination evident in her running. "Sorry Mastizetai-san! You're not going to beat me on my home turf!"

Thane quickly gave her a glance with a coy smile "we'll see about that Sakurazaki-san!" Thane veered off to his right, running right at one of the many buildings on campus and into the alleyway next to it.

Setsuna was surprised to see him make such a move, but didn't falter in her own step, continuing to go her traditional route.

_'Right at the park gate, go about 30 or so feet and dash across the road into the alley behind the coffee shop. Quickly take a left and keep going straight until I hit the large staircase and jog up the steps into the large train plaza, Then it's a straight shot to the world tree. I know the shortest routs around campus, no way am I going to lose!'_ A fierce fire begins to burn in Setsuna's eyes and her pace gets even faster.

She takes all the proper routes with no hassle, up until she gets to the stairs leading to the train Plaza. _'so far so good, but still… something bugs me about what he did back there…'_

***crash!***

Setsuna quickly turns her head and, much to her surprise, sees Thane jump off the wall out of an alley and roll to his feet, not missing a step as he kept running.

Setsuna knew her face was in a shocked state _'how in the world did he get here so fast!-?'_ She quickly pushes those thoughts from her mind as she gains the lead again, and starts to ascend the stairs as quickly as she could.

However the sound of beating metal distracts her and she takes a second to look behind her. Her jaw quite literally drops.

Thane had jumped onto the guard rail and quickly whizzed past her, but not before he gave her a playful smile on the way.

_'No frikken way!'_ Setsuna started to skip up the stairs at least three at a time, hoping to regain the lead, a competitive fire burning in each step.

She saw Thane reach the top and leap off the rail, rolling to his feet, not even breaking stride and disappearing past the top steps.

Setsuna was feeling a strange emotion begin to well up in her as she finally hit the top and take off after him. She was starting to feel tired, but she just wanted to catch up, the fatigue being pushed out of her mind.

Exhilaration surged through her body as she saw the dark clothing of the pale youth, and started to run even faster, using chi to power her steps._ 'I feel kind of strange, what is this feeling I wonder? It's rather enjoyable actually!'_ a smile crossed her face as she ran right next to him and overtook him yet again. She quickly looks behind her again to see her racing opponent's condition.

He was smiling at her, no sign of defeat or of giving up anywhere in his features.

Setsuna could only smile back as the feeling in her chest swelled to new heights, giving her added spirit.

She looks back in front and almost has to stop due to the large fountain coming up fast. She starts to run around but sees Thane do something different_ 'can't watch him! I must focus on my stride!'_

She tears her eyes away from him and quickly rounds the fountain, the last line of stairs to the world tree present.

Suddenly, Thane falls out of the sky in front of her, landing on his legs but dashing off, giving him a lead. _'How does he keep doing that!-?'_

Setsuna, though feeling her legs burning, pushes herself even further to catch up.

Thane manages to reach the stairs first and leaps onto the rail again. Setsuna watches helplessly as he starts to quickly dash up the stairs.

_'Damn it!'_ She grits her teeth and does the same thing, leaping onto the rail and giving chase.

However, it was not as easy as he made it look and she quickly fell off, but not before she managed to at least get a quarter of the way up.

She looked up at Thane and, much to her surprise, saw him loose his footing and fall. He didn't catch himself however and fell on the stairs with a loud crack, but quickly got back up and dashed up the stairs two at a time, but not before Setsuna had closed the distance again.

Setsuna and Thane reach the last bit of the stairs, and with a great leap, Setsuna lands on the plateau before Thane had the chance.

Both of them collapse right next to each other gasping for more air and flat out tired from the mile and a half run. Thane was breathing harder than Setsuna however and reached up into the air "*wheeze* damnation!*pant* I almost *pant* won! *Wheeze*"

Setsuna sat up and looked at the tired youth "you *pant* would have *pant* if you *Pant* didn't fall *pant* back there" they both try to catch their breath before they continue their conversation.

After a few more minutes of mass respiratory recovery, Both Thane and Setsuna get up and dust themselves off.

Setsuna bows to Thane "I am sorry"

Thane was shocked and confused by the sudden apology "what? Why?"

She continued to bow "for my judgment of you. You proved me very wrong in this race, and I would like to apologize for it"

Thane scratched his head with a light blush on his face "aw, you don't have to worry about that. I get it all the time, plus I still lost."

Setsuna stood back up and gave him a gentle smile "but you still managed to do what you promised, and that was to prove me wrong. I will not make the same mistake of judging by your appearance again." _'Plus, it was fun. I haven't had fun like that in a while.'_

Thanes face was rather red from her smile but quickly shook his head to snap himself out of it. He tried to divert his vision by looking at a clock he saw "Oh? Is it only 5:17? That race didn't take too long. I think we started it at 5:09."

Setsunas face lit up in remembrance "ah! Speaking of the race… how did you manage to catch up to me even though I saw you run down that alley?"

Thane looked back at her and started to smile sheepishly "eh he… it was nothing special really…"

**Xx Thanes perspective in the race xX**

'_Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, crapcrapcrapcrap crappity crappity SHIT! Me and my fat braggart mouth!'_ Thane watched as Setsuna was quickly gaining on him, and she didn't look happy about his sudden head start.

From the start of the Race, Thane knew that Setsuna was faster than him, and in better shape to.

He desperately tried to keep his distance, but that was proving to be impossible. He noticed Setsuna out of the corner of his eye "Sorry Mastizetai-san! You're not going to beat me on my home turf!"

Thane, for some odd reason, gave her a coy smile "We'll see about that Sakurazaki-san!" _'You retard! What are you doing acting all cool for!-? She is gonna kick your ass!...unless… I do something that she doesn't expect!'_

Thane quickly scanned in front of him and saw an alley-way. _'I think it's time I used some of that military training I learned'_

Thane quickly veered off into the alleyway and started kicking off the walls until he could grab the ledge and pulls himself up.

Thankfully, it wasn't that tall. _'Now that I have the roof top advantage, I don't have to worry about turns and head straight for the tree!'_

Thane took off running in the direction of the World tree, jumping over ledges, and leaping across the building gaps. Everything was going well, that is until he saw the gap that went across the street._ 'holy frikken!... I'll never make it! Wait, calm down… think back to what the trainer said… something about… chi? I think? Focus yourself on your inner spirit… or something like that. Well now or never!'_

Thane felt a small surge of energy in his feet and leaped… much further then he thought he would.

"HOLY CRAP!" He flew through the air and saw Setsuna down below him taking a back alley behind a coffee shop.

He hits the roof with a loud crash, but quickly gets up, knowing that he can't relax _'Hot damn! I haven't had to actually use chi in forever. Well since my magical power is low I am going to have to rely on Chi more often'_

Thane sees the train stop and notices that there aren't any more buildings for him use as a short cut "aw Hel" He jumps down the first opening he can find right onto a trash can and leaps off the walls of the alley until he jumps out.

Much to his surprise, he sees Setsuna there as well

_'fast!'_

He saw her with a look similar to his own as she starts to run up the stairs. When he saw that, he couldn't help but smile _'sorry Setsuna, but the advantage is mine'_

Thane jumped onto the rail and quickly ran past her, but not before giving her a playful smile.

The look on her face was priceless _'this is getting fun!'_

Thane gave an extra burst of speed and hit the top, quickly leaping off and dashing into view of the world tree _'holy crap! I think I'm going to win!'_

That thought was quickly shattered as Setsuna ran by him. _'Never mind, but I'm not complaining. This is just too much fun!'_

Thane saw Setsuna look back at him, and not wanting to have a face of weakness, smiled at her.

He blushed as she smiled back and dashed even further ahead.

Thane saw her go around the fountain ahead, He decided to do something different _'you may win but I won't make it easy!'_

Thane pushes Chi to the soles of his feet and leaps over the fountain. When he glides over the middle statue he places his hand on the top and launches himself with extra speed right over Setsuna.

He knew that he momentarily had the advantage and took it for every inch he could.

He saw the stairs leading up to the World tree Plaza and jumped onto the rail, a repeat of the other stairway.

He heard a loud bang of rubber on metal and Knew that Setsuna had just tried to copy him.

That wasn't going to happen however as he heard her fall off, giving him an elated feeling of victory.

_'aw yeah! Nothing can stop me now!'_

that had jinxed him.

He didn't see the small amount of frost on the railing and proceeded to step on it in his victory elated pace, and proceed to slip and fall_ 'well, shit…'_

**Xx back to now xX**

"And that's pretty much what happened!" he had his hand behind his head and laughing it off like it was nothing.

Setsuna gave a nervous laugh _'I seriously can't tell if I should call him amazing or a downright fool' _"well regardless, it was rather… how should I put it… fun I think. It has been a long time since anybody has tried to compete with me"

Thanes only reply was a gentle smile, which in turn, made her blush "A-anyway! I need to get on with my train-"

"want to go out?"

it took Setsuna a minute to figure out what he just said "…eh?"

Thane gave her a smile again "Do. You. Want. To. Go. Out? Yes or no question there Sakurazaki-san"

"EHHHHHHHHHHH!-?" She skid back give or take ten to fifteen feet in shock.

Thane raised his eyebrow in confusion "what's got you on high alert?"

Setsunas face was a deep crimson as she tried to stammer out some kind of response "G-g-g-g-g-g-g go out!-? I-I-I-I-I I don't know how to respond to that!"

Thane was very confused now "either a yes or no, that's how" _'good grief, what's up with her? I only asked if she wanted to go out. I mean I'm even willing to pay for the food too, if she shows me how to use this foreign currency that is'_

Setsuna, however, was having a serious mental break down _'OH MY FRIKKEN GOD! Did he just seriously ask me out! I've never been hit on before in my life! I mean, Konoka ojou-sama is the only one that I need in my life! Should I turn him down!-? no, wait! That would be incredibly rude to him! and, he's not really that bad looking either... Really, he's rather handsome actually… what the hell am I thinking about!-? Ahhh, what should I do!-?'_

Thane watched her flail around for a few more minutes before he had finally had enough "Great Luxuriates girl! What is wrong with you?"

Setsuna threw her arms up in quick defense "Ah! Um! Sorry! I mean, I really don't know how to respond to that! We just met little over thirty minutes ago and uh… this has never happened to me before! Could we just…uh… you know… start out as…friends?"

Thane's eyebrow lifted in mild confusion again "Huh? Sure, I guess. Now come on, let's go get something to eat, I'm hungry. Oh, but don't worry, I'll pay for it."

That** obviously** cleared everything up, but Setsuna simply took it for what it was and sighed in relief.

Setsuna noticed that he had mentioned something about food and quickly stopped him "ah! Wait! I actually have some breakfast with me, and I don't mind sharing it. That is, if you want some."

Thane looked at her with a sparkle in his eye. He grabs her hands and held them in his own "Oh thank you! Thank you! I haven't eaten anything since yesterday and I'm starving! I am in your debt!"

Setsuna was blushing yet again from his hands on her own "uh sure… no problem…"

Thane quickly let go and sat down on a bench close by, looking at her with bright beaming eyes.

Setsuna wasn't sure that she wanted to sit next to him due to the fact that he made her feel nervous, but decided that it was just from the earlier confession and sat down next to him.

Thane watched her pull out a lunch box wrapped in a plain white cloth, the box also being as plain as the cloth that had covered it.

_'oh boy! I hope it's Takoyaki! I love that stuff!'_ what it was however where 8 triangular rice things that had small black green squares on the sides "Uh… Sakurazaki-san…"

she pulled one out and started to munch on it "um-hum?"

"What are those?" he eyed the triangles in the box with some wonder and confusion

Setsuna saw his confusion and held out the one in her own hand for him to observe "these are Onigiri. A very simple breakfast for a warrior" She saw him keep eyeing them; like he wasn't sure what to make of them "they're better then they look Mastizetai-san"

Thane looked from her to the rice ball. Without any warning, he took a bite out of the one in her hand "…Huh, well what do you know? They **are** good. I guess even simple things can have an amazing taste… Sakurazaki-san?"

Setsuna was red in the face for about the fourth time today, her eyes looking at her rice ball in mild shock _'what. was. That!-? He just… he just!...does this count as… an indirect… Ki-Ki-Ki-Ki…Kiss?-!'_ Suddenly, her head seemed to explode with steam and her entire face was beet red.

Thane was wondering what the heck just happened "Oi! You ok! Your face is pretty red! Do you have a fever? Let me check" he placed his hand on her forehead, or tried to anyway.

Her head was so hot that he couldn't directly touch her face "holy cripes! You're burning up Sakurazaki-san!"

Setsuna quickly waved away his concern "Oh! It's nothing! I'm fine! Really!" she was talking a little more loudly then she had intended.

Thane was looking at her with some worry, but let the issue drop "ok, if you're sure…"

The pair proceed to eat in silence for a few more minutes until the Onigiri where gone, in which case, Thane was rather sad "aw… oh well. It was good that's for certain"

Setsuna looked at her empty lunch box _'I hope so! You ate 6 of them!'_

Thane Leaned back into the bench and contently looked up at the early morning sky " so… what are your plans for the rest of the morning Sakurazaki-san?"

Setsuna looked at her cell phone to check the time. It was 5:23 "well, seeing as I finished up my early morning jog faster than expected, it's time for me to practice my swordsmanship"

She put her phone away and stood up

"Cool, mind if a watch? I know a little about swordsmanship, so maybe I could help give some instruction?"

Setsuna was nervous from the thought of him watching her, but shook herself out of it "I don't mind."

The next forty minutes where spent with Thane observing Setsuna as she practiced sword swings. She was careful not to use her Shinmei Ryu techniques in his presence _'he may be nice and friendly, but I can't exactly show anybody my sword style'_

after she got done with the last of her stances, she put her sword away and was surprised to hear clapping.

She turned and saw Thane was the source of the noise "wow! That was splendid! Like there was anything for me to advise about!" Setsuna was lightly blushing again from the praises he was giving.

Thane got up and walked over to her and reached out his hand to her "you mind if I try something with your sword real quick?"

Setsuna lightly tilted her head to the side in confusion and some suspicion "why?"

Thane gave her a smile "don't worry; I just want to see if I can still do something. Your practice swings and graceful movements gave me an urge to try this."

Setsuna looked at him for a few more seconds, trying to see if there was any malicious intent _'I can't detect anything. So either he really does want to show me something, or he is really good at masking Evil intent'_

Setsuna sighed in defeat and held out her blade "very well"

Thane delicately took the blade from her and held it in both hands.

Setsuna found herself blushing again from the light brush of their hands from the exchange.

She watched him continue to examine the blade for another minute "is there something wrong?"

Thane shook his head "no, there is nothing wrong. You really are devoted to the blade aren't you? I can feel your spirit in this sword."

Setsuna was slightly surprised when he said that, but said nothing.

"Does this sword have a name Sakurazaki-san?"

She lightly smiled when she thought about the blades name and the memories that came with it "it is called Yunagi."

Thane observed the blade for a moment longer until he placed his hand on the handle "I like that name"

He put the large sword to his side, holding it with his left hand while the right hovered over the handle.

Setsuna could immediately feel a difference in both his aura and the way he held himself.

Thane had his eyes closed and was simply waiting for the perfect moment, for the pinnacle of power to be achieved in his Chi.

Setsuna kept her eyes open in nervous energy, waiting to see what he would do.

More than a minute had gone by, and the calm that emitted from Thane could be felt so strongly, that several birds had landed close by, unaware of him.

Thane suddenly opened his eyes wide and with purpose.

His hand moved so fast that all Setsuna saw was a slight twitch of his wrist.

Nothing happened for a moment, but suddenly, one of the many lampposts that where scattered around campus suddenly fell, the metal split cleanly and perfectly.

Setsuna was wide eyed in amazement, he had moved to fast for even her eyes to register what just happened "That was amazing Mastizetai-san!"

When she looked at Thane, however, she saw that there was a discontent look on his face "not really… I screwed up, and rather badly for that fact."

Thane handed the blade back to a shocked Setsuna

"what do you mean? You cut the pole in half perfectly!"

Thane looked at her for a moment and quickly walked over somewhere in the walk way and picked something up.

He came back and held up a small steam "I wasn't aiming for the Pole Sakurazaki-san. I was aiming to cut this leaf in half, and as you can see, I obliterated it instead, plus I cut the pole down, that wasn't supposed to happen. I hope they don't make me pay for that… Anyway, there was too much power, that's all I can say. *sigh* Oswald would kill me if he saw that…"

Setsuna only looked at him with disbelief in her eyes _'you call that badly done!-? That was an Iaido that would defeat the eyes of most master class fighters! Plus he did it with a blade larger then himself!'_

Thane scratched the back of his head "oh well, I guess that I just need to start practicing it again…"

Suddenly, Thanes eyes lit up and he lightly hammered his right hand into his left "Ah! I got it!" he turned to Setsuna and bowed "Sakurazaki-san!"

Setsuna lightly jumped from his sudden formality "ye-Yes?"

"Would it be alright with you if we trained together in the morning from now on? It would appear that I have let my own sword skills become rather rusty, and it would please me to no end if you where to be my training partner!"

Setsuna was at a loss for words for a moment.

Thane put both his hands together " I do not know how good of a partner I can be to you Sempai, but I will give it my all, plus I have some confidence in my own techniques, so I shouldn't be that bad of a partner."

Setsunas mind was down a dirty road for a few seconds when all that was said, but quickly shook herself out of it "Sure, I don't mind, but not today. My time is almost up and I have things that I need to attend to, but starting tomorrow we can train. Is that alright with you?"

Thane quickly stood up and pulled her into a bear hug, nearly choking the life out of the poor girl "Oh thank you Sakurazaki-san! Thank you! You won't regret it!"

Setsuna was not listening to him however and was smacking his back to try to show him that she was having some trouble breathing.

Thane let her go and she collapsed to the ground due to lack of oxygen "ehhhh… sorry…got a little excited there… he he…"

**Xx sometime later (around 9:25 A.M) xX**

Thane was wandering around the shopping district of Mahora academy with a dejected face, lightly sighing to himself as he meandered aimlessly. _'bloody brilliant… after Setsuna left I thought to myself "hey! How about I go and find something to do on campus!" sure lets walk around a campus that you still know nothing about and get frikken lost! Again! Great Terrathrax, mankind should marvel at my short term memory… and I still don't know how to use this bloody Japanese currency!'_

Thane held up the small crinkled envelope that Takamichi had given him and scowled at it, like it was the source of his misfortune.

He only sighed and put it away, knowing that he had only himself to blame.

He pulled the small pouch from his shirt and looked at it which only caused him to sigh again _'I wish Troy was awake… he'd know exactly where to go in this situation… '_

Thane smiled as he remembered his little friend and put the sack back in his shirt, a little less dejected.

As he was about to start walking again, Thane saw a small group of young thugs hanging around the corner, about 5 or 6 of them, and they where circled around something that he couldn't see _'scary scary… better ignore them…'_

Thane tried to sneak around them when he suddenly heard a voice that did **not** sound like a guys "Scram ya bunch of thugs! We have more important things to do then hang out with you!"

Thane saw out of the corner of his eye that the one talking was a dark haired girl with a side ponytail and a rather impressive bust _'are those side ponytail things popular in this country or something?'_

He saw that the girl wasn't alone and that there were three others, one was standing next to side ponytail girl glaring at the thugs while the other two were hiding behind them trying to stay out of trouble.

The two hiding where smaller girls, one with silver hair and the other with pink hair. The other one glaring at the punks was a tall girl, almost the same height as Thane actually, and had light brown hair that was tied into a normal ponytail that went all the way down to her hip.

Thane stopped right outside the circle of punks watching what was going on

"Aw, come on girls, don't be like that. Me and my boys will treat you real right, right guys?"

Thane saw all of them had a lecherous look on their face as they agreed.

Suddenly, one of the thugs grabbed the pink hair girl and started to drag her out

"AHH!"

"Makie!" The side ponytail girl reached out to stop him but the other guys blocked her path.

Thane had had enough. He reached over and grabbed the thug that grabbed the Makie girl and wrenched her from his grasp, pushing the punk to the ground with more force then was necessary.

That got everybody's attention

"Ok boys, parties over. The girls obviously don't want to be bothered, and I am sure you can find something productive to do with your time, like badminton!"

All the thugs where glaring at him with murderous intent "who the hell are you? You better back off before you get hurt pretty boy" One of the Shorter thugs got up in his face and was obviously acting like he was the leader.

The girls were looking at Thane like he was nuts and most likely fixing to get killed.

Thane remained calm and kept his voice pleasant as he continued to talk "oh I'm sure you don't need to know my name, considering your probably not going to remember it anyway, but I digress! Let us end the day with no injuries of any kind!"

The shorter Thug grabbed a hold of Thanes shirt and attempted to lift him off the ground "you not hear me Punk ass bastard!-? Scram before we decide to pound that Bi-shounen face in!"

Thane lightly smiled, but it was a dangerous smile, and he grabbed the thugs arm and started to squeeze.

The punk tried to get away but Thane didn't let him go, He looked him straight in the eyes with a dangerous glint hidden there "Listen here you little snot, I'm sore from sleeping on a bench all night, I'm hungry from eating a small amount of food, and I am not in the mood for your little barking. Now you and your boys better get out of here before I decide not to be nice anymore."

Thane let go of his arms which caused the punk to fall back. However, he didn't listen and quickly got back up pointing at Thane "get him boys!"

Thane could only sigh _'sonuvabitch…'_

**Xx Five minutes later xX**

Thane slammed the last punk into a trash can and put the lid on, dusting his hands off with a content look on his face "Ah yes… taking the trash out sure does give you a sense of fulfillment doesn't it boys?"

many groans and slight whimpers where heard from the six trash cans by the road.

The four girls looked at this Pale stranger with some shock and maybe a tinge of awe. He had just beaten six thugs and had not even broken a sweat.

Yuna was the first to recover "holy Cripes man! That was amazing! You must be pretty damn strong to take em out that easy!"

Thane looked over at the four girls and, with a slight blush on his face, scratched the back of his head in embarrassment "me? strong? Nah, they were just loud strays that's all"

Suddenly the taller one bowed to him "thank you for helping Makie, I don't really know what would have happened if you weren't around"

Thane waved it away " aw, no need for thanks ladies. I was just doing what I felt was right. Plus, they pissed me off on a bad day"

Thane gave a glare back at the trash cans, which in turn, caused them to shudder.

The side ponytail girl held out her hand enthusiastically "the name is Yuna Akashi! Nice to meet you!" _'ho-ly crap he is one hot foreigner! Though the gaunt look can be a bit of a turn off'_

Thane was slightly confused by the gesture _'I think this is what they do for a greeting in this world. Now what was next? I think I'm supposed to grab it…'_

He took her hand in his own and with a charming smile introduced himself "nice to meet you, my name is Thane Mastizetai"

He managed to get blushes out of all four girls, though he was slightly confused as to why that was.

He turned to the other three and gave them the same charming smile he had read about "and who might the other three beauties be?"

The taller girl gave another bow "my name is Akira Okochi" _'he has such a pretty smile, but such a mysterious feel to him as well… he also feels… familiar to me…'_

The Makie girl waved at him "Makie Sasaki! Thanks for saving me earlier Mastazita-san!" _'He's really good looking, but not really my type. He has such a hard name too… but he's a cool looking foreigner!'_

Thane lightly laughed at Makie _'she got my name wrong…'_

The last girl was slightly fidgeting and was red up to her ears "M-my name is Ako Izumi, Nice to meet you…" _'Oh my god! He looks so much like my old Sempai that I liked!'_

Thane nodded his head "Akashi-san, Okochi-san, Sasaki-san, and Izumi-san. I think I got it, and if it isn't too much trouble for you, don't call me by my last name. It's a mouthful, and can be a pain in the ass sometimes."

All the girls nodded their head's, not really going to verbally agree with that statement.

Yuna agreed with a little more energy then was necessary "got it! By the way Thane-san, for getting rid of those thugs, we would like it if you told us what you want in repayment!"

Thane started to blush again "oh, you don't have to repay me for something so-"

***groooooooooooooooooooooooowl ***

a moment of awkward silence followed.

***gurgle gurgle***

Thane was looking down at his noisy stomach with a glare.

The four girls started to lightly giggle before Akira spoke up "are you perhaps… hungry Thane-san?"

Thane looked at the girls for a moment before he burst into tears "Yeeeeeee-eh-eh-eeees… I've been starved since yesterday afternoon!"

Akira gave a nervous laugh "would you like to eat with us? We where fixing to get something ourselves in fact"

Thane threw himself at her and embraced her while crying into her shoulder "Oh thank you! You guys are my saviors!"

The other three girls where watching the embrace with some interesting thoughts running through their heads while the one being embraced was blushing madly and trying to get him off "o-Ok I get it! Please get off me!"

**Xx Thirty minutes and one content stomach later…xX**

Thane had his head on the table and was sighing contently with several plates of food on either side of him

"ahhhhh… I must say again, thank you girls for treating me to good food."

Yuna, who sat on his right, smashed her hand on his back "No problem! But man! You sure can pack it away! You got a hallow leg or something?"

Thane sat up and shook his head "nah, I just get very hungry sometimes."

All the girls gave him an unusual look, but didn't bother to question it.

Thane sat back and observed the four girls in front of him.

He hadn't got the chance to look at them properly since he met them, and decided to see who these people where.

Needless to say, they where all pretty, especially the Okochi girl. For reasons unknown to him, every time he looked at her, he couldn't help but lightly blush and turn his head away, but that wasn't the only odd thing about her _'strange, she has a rather odd feeling about her…'_

She was taller than the rest of her friends and was perhaps the quietest of the group. Thane got the feeling that she was the one who kept the other three out of trouble. She was sitting directly across from him.

He turned his head to Makie, who was sitting across from him on his left, and couldn't help but laugh on the inside. She was a cute and energetic girl, but she seemed to come off as a little simple. Thane wasn't about to judge her by that alone however, and simply smiled.

He turned to the girl sitting on his left and observed her carefully. Ako Izumi was perhaps the shy type of quiet. She hadn't made eye contact with him since they meet and it kinda bugged him that she avoided him.

The short girl looked up at him, thinking that his attention was elsewhere and was staring up into his eyes.

Thinking that this was a chance, Thane gave her a light smile; however this had a different effect.

She blushed madly and turned her head away from him, trying desperately to avoid eye contact again.

Thane simply shrugged his shoulders when he suddenly felt a tap. He turned around to meet face to face with Yuna.

Thane knew from the get-go that this girl was an outspoken tom-boy, packed with massive amounts of energy, and maybe a little magic as well.

"Sorry about Ako. She's kinda shy around guys right now, due to one of her Sempai's rejecting her confession. Don't take it personally"

Thane scratched his chin "ah, I see. Don't worry, I wasn't offended"

Thane lightly smiled and reached over and started patting Ako on the head, which surprised her greatly, though she didn't stop him.

Thane suddenly seemed to realize his petting and stopped "Eh he… sorry. I always used to do that for one of my little ones when she was feeling down, and you looked like you could use one. It's an old habit to break."

Ako quickly held up her hands "n-no! It's ok! Thanks…"

Yuna, however, had been caught on the words _'little one'_

"little one? Are you married!-? I knew foreigners where fast, but damn…"

Thane spewed the tea he was just drinking "*cough* *cough* What? No! I'm not married!"

Makies brain started going into hyper imagination mode "Then do you have secret love children from several princesses in your home country, but they couldn't stay due to political reasons and they had to travel with you?"

Thane looked at the sparkling girl with a dumbfound expression on his face "How in the Bloody Carotis did you come to that conclusion? But in answer to your question, no. They are my little ones, not my children. I guess you could call them orphans."

Suddenly the four girls where feeling kinda bad about what they just said. Akira quickly tried to apologize "I'm sorry, we didn't mean to pry"

Thane was confused until he realized what she was talking about "Oh! Oh no, no, no! Please don't worry about it! You didn't hurt my feelings or anything!"

the other four felt a little better now, but it still hung on their conscious.

A few minutes of awkward silence filled the air as nobody said anything.

Thane quickly tried to find something, **anything,** to break the bad feeling in the air. "So uh…! I was…uh… checking…uh… you guys bodies out and noticed that you have rather athletic builds! Are you athletes?"

it took him a few moments to register what he just said.

Yuna was giving him a rather mischievous smile, Ako and Makie were blushing madly with embarrassment written all over there faces, and Akira… her face was bright red though her expression was unreadable.

Thanes face went beet red "holy cripes! I did not mean to say… I mean, yeah you got really good bodies… but that's not what I-!"

Yuna leaned in close to him with a seductive tone to her body "Oh don't worry about it! You're a healthy young male. I'm sure that any guy in your position would be checking us out."

Thane quickly tried to craft some form of excuse "I didn't-! You're badly mis-!"

Yuna only continued "so tell us… which girl here is more your type? Not to brag, but I have the biggest bust here."

Thane was blushing madly as he tried to babble out some coherent words and keep his eyes away from her chest "You!... that is!..."

Yuna leaned in dangerously close and whispered lustfully into his ear, making sure that her breath blew across his cheek "And I'm still growing."

Thane smashed his head into the table and started to talk loudly "I'M NOT LISTENING _LA LA LA LA LA LA LAAAAAA!_"

Yuna wasn't done yet, however, and leaned back into her chair "or maybe you prefer girls like Ako and Makie? Nice and thin, easy to get a… handle on so to say."

Poor Makie had no idea what she was talking about, and Thane couldn't even see Akos face due to the fact that she had covered it up in shame.

Oh, but Yuna was not done yet "Oh-ho! Or maybe ya like em nice and tight like Akira he-"

suddenly, Akira reached over with a _very_ scary look on her face and pulled Yuna in face to face, shaking her head as if to tell her that going any further was a no-no.

Yuna was shaking in her boots and stopped cold right there.

However, the damage had been done and Thanes mind was reeling with Yuna's words _'easy to handle… big breasts… nice and tight…'_

The last thought set him off and his head seemed to explode into a cloud of steam while his nose exploded into a geyser of blood, his conscious quickly slipping. Ako quickly followed suite due to the sight of blood.

**Xx a few minutes and failed resuscitation's later xX**

Thane was sitting in his chair with a depressed look on his face with a sheepish Yuna scratching her head next to him "eh he he… sorry bout that… guess I got a little carried away there."

Thane looked over at her and gave her a look that said _'no shit Sherlock'_

Yuna gave him a smile and held her hands together as if in prayer "can ya forgive me Thane-san?"

Thane sighed as if he ran a marathon "ya know what? I don't even care about it anymore, so yeah all is forgiven."

Yuna threw her arm around his shoulder, putting him dangerously close to her rack "All right! You got a big heart Thane-san!"

Thane was trying to worm his way out of her grasp without actually touching her "yeah… sure… could you let me go now?"

Yuna pulled in closer and whispered into his ear "seriously though, what caused the massive bloody nose eh? Something dirty?"

Thane instantly started to growl at her "the only one thinking dirty thoughts here is you ya crazy woman!"

Yuna quickly released her hold on him and ran away cackling "oh he's angry now!"

Thane saw Ako and Makie lightly giggling, with Akira shaking her head and muttering under her breath "she never learns…"

Thane couldn't help but grin at the girls and their quirks.

Akira got up and bowed to Thane "sorry about our friend. She can get out of hand sometimes."

Thane gave her a smile "no problem, it's refreshing, and I don't get to meet too many people like her where I come from."

Akira lightly blushed from his kind smile and looked back in the direction of her energetic friend "we had a fun Time Thane-san, but we have to get going. My friends and I have to start getting ready for next week"

Thanes ears perked up at that "Oh? And what happens next week?"

Makie gave a dejected sigh "fall break ends and we have to start the new term, that's what… *sigh*"

Ako gave her friend a light pat on the back to comfort her.

Thane looked up at the ceiling for a moment _'the headmaster did say something about school starting up next week. Huh, sounds like fun, wonder if I could try to enroll? Not like I need to learn much or anything…'_

Thane stood up "alright! Mind if I join you ladies? I don't have anything planned and I would like to see a little more of the academy, if that's alright with you?"

Thane looked over at Akira, hoping that she wouldn't object. Akira was lightly blushing for some reason, but she quickly shook her head "I don't have a problem with you being here."

Makie threw her hand up into the air "sounds like fun!"

Ako was fidgeting "it- It's alright with me…"

suddenly, Yuna appeared behind Thane and threw her arm around his shoulders, pointing in the direction of the rest of the shopping district "if that's settled, then let's get the ball rolling people! Only six more days until school starts back up! And I don't intend to waste any of it!"

she drags Thane out the door with her as she dashes off

"he- hey! Not so fast!"

Ako and Makie quickly follow suite, leaving Akira by herself and laughing nervously "weren't we here to pick up school supplies?..."

She quietly laughed to herself, but she lost herself in thought about Thane _'he seems like a nice person, but why does he feel like somebody I know? There has been a strange feeling in my chest since I meet him, and it won't go away…'_

"hey! Come on Akira! Don't stand around in a daze!" Akira shook herself out of her stupor and shouted back "coming!"

Some distance away, an older looking woman with dark skin and even darker hair that went down to her waist was observing Thane like a hawk with her cold amber eyes, keeping herself well hidden in the crowd so as to avoid attention. She quietly followed behind the group of five as they went shopping, thinking back to the conversation she had had earlier that morning.

**Xx 4:45 A.M xX**

_The feeling of vibration could be felt through her jeans, and she reached into her pocket to pull out the buzzing phone._

_ It was the headmaster, what in the world was he calling about this early?_

_ She flipped the phone open and quickly answered _

_"hello?"_

_ "Good morning Mana-san. I hope that I am not interrupting anything?"_

_ Mana quickly whips out an IMI desert eagle and fires two rounds behind her, causing a large black shadow that had loomed behind her to explode in a hiss_

_ "Not anymore, now what did you need Headmaster?"_

_ "yes, you see, we have ourselves a visitor so to speak. The details will be sent to you later, but for now, we need you to keep an eye on him while Takamichi is out. His name is Thane Mastizetai, now he doesn't seem like a bad sort, but better safe than sorry I say."_

_ Mana knew the importance of keeping dangerous or unknown people close at hand "Understood, I expect a bonus from this of course"_

_ An audible sigh could be heard over the phone line "of course. His picture will be sent to you immediately"_

_ Mana heard the phone line end, and no sooner than it did, she got a new E-mail with a picture attached to it. She flipped it Open and examined her target._

**Xx Now xX**

So far, Mana had found almost nothing worth considering a threat about the stranger.

Almost, however, didn't mean that she didn't find something… Interesting… about him.

Just this morning, she had watched both him and Setsuna race. She could tell by watching that he knew how to adapt.

His impressive display of the Iai-ken had actually left an impression on her, which was no easy feat. "This is certainly going to be an Interesting week…" She lightly chuckled to herself and proceeded to follow him.

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><p>well now! what did you all think? does this story get you interested? do you feel like you want to read more? if so, leave a review! it's the only way to know if my story is actually making anybody happy! if not... well, I guess that's your choice...<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Howdy there all! sorry about the wait, but I can only go as fast as I can, and that's when ideas pop in my head! so here it is! chapter one! enjoy!

Negima and all it's content Belong to it's founding father and beloved creator Ken Akametsu. I take no credit for any of it save for Thane, cause he's mine

Oh yeah, something I forgot to mention in case anybody is confused

"word" = words said out loud

_'word'_ = stands for internal monologue or thoughts

"**Word"** Or _"word"_ = stands for certain emphasis

{word}= things in brackets normally stand for another language

for those of you who read my story, please refer to the bottom of the page when you get done. I need to make an announcement

* * *

><p>Pale Roots<p>

Chapter 1: Meet the teacher(s)

It had been a fun week for Thane. During those six days, he came to know each of the girls better and had had the time of his life.

In the early morning, around 4:30 until about 8, he would go jogging and practice sword styles with Setsuna Sakurazaki. He had also learned that she also helped keep the school safe from evil spirits and the like as a kind of part time job in the afternoons. He had offered to assist her, but she had kindly refused his invitation, though he had seen her blush a bit when he had offered.

After he and Setsuna would part ways, he would Either hang out by himself, or go and find the four Athletes and hang out with them until either Yuna drove him up the wall, or until it was about 4 P.M.

He would then go and hang out with the Library Trio until they went home. After that he would go and sleep on his favorite/only bench until the new day would dawn. All while under the unnoticed yet ever observant eyes of Mana Tatsumiya. Or that was the case until day four.

**Xx Thursday, 4:22 P.M. On his way to the Library xX**

"_Oh my dear sweet frikken god… that chick has not stopped following me since frikken day one! What the Carotis does she want from me!-?"_ Thane was quietly sitting in an open park bench, with a content face to mask the chaos of his panicking mental state.

He took a quick glance over at the female in question, who was sitting on a bench some distance off, reading a newspaper.

Mana, however, was rather bored actually, and really didn't need to follow him much anymore. She knew where he was going to be, because this guy was like clockwork.

He was at the same places at almost the exact times for the past four days. But she kept the Vigil, and continued to observe him.

Thane, however, had caught glimpses of her watching him with a cold and evil stare. Like a hawk watching the little mouse scurry about in futility.

Needless to say, he was pretty freaked out at this point. '_Oh sweet Terrathrax, is she an assassin? But who in the name of Luxuriates would want to kill me! I've only been here less than four days! Wait! Maybe… not and assassin… but a stalker? I think that's what Haruna would call it… what did she say about stalkers?'_

**Xx Tuesday, in the Library xX**

"_You wanna know what a stalker is? Well in stories or games, a stalker is normally a crazy person who has a massive crush on the main hero, but is too scared to say anything. Of course it isn't a healthy relationship, considering the stalker can end up killing there person of interest if they don't like them back. Here, let me give you this Doujin Dating game about Stalkers."_

**Xx Now xX**

Thane had played it on one of the Campus computers, and it had truly traumatized him. Of course, Yue had said that that wasn't what a real stalker was and the game was a load of bullshit, but Thane couldn't help but use it as a reference considering it was the **only **one he had for a stalker.

_"Oh sweet mercy! What do I do! What do I do! If I don't handle it carefully it could turn into…"_

**Stalker girl has appeared!**

"**Um… I really really like you and have been following you for a few days now. Would you go out with me?"**

**Yes**

**[X] No**

**Maybe**

**Gun is pulled out from skirt " If you will not be mine, then we shall join each other in hell!"**

**Bad ending.**

Thane has his eyes closed in serious thought _'maybe I should select the Yes Option…"_

**[X] Yes**

**No**

**Maybe**

"**Squee! OMG really! Then we can start by having thirty one kids, a large mansion a… You just had your eyes on another woman didn't you!" Pulls out gun from Skirt "Die!"**

**Bad ending.**

Thane is nervously scratching his chin_ "that didn't work either… one left to try I guess…"_

**Yes**

**No **

**[X]Maybe**

"**Oh… Ok. I can wait for your reply, forever and ever. Until the end of time."**

**The Stalker girl keeps all other girls away from you, and you go down a spiraling path of sadness, dying cold and alone with your funeral attended by the one girl and many cats you raised in your lifetime.**

**Bad Ending.**

Thanes face was set in terror and his mouth was wide in shock from this revelation _"I get a bad ending regardless of what I dooooooooooo! I need to change the game code!"_

**Yes**

**No **

**Maybe**

**[Y] R^n Aw%Y**

**Option is not valid, error code 29954, rebooting.**

Thane clasps his head in his hands and begins to scratch furiously _"Mother Phooker! I can't run away! I'm doomed! Wait… this is real life! What am I worried about game code for!-?"_

sitting away from him on the far away bench, Mana was watching Thane panic and at this point, was really confused.

_'what in the world is wrong with him?'_

She saw him grab his head and begin to roll on the ground, but then quickly get on his hands and knees in a depressed manner.

All this caused her to raise her eyebrow in a questioning look as she began to ponder whether her earlier evaluation of him not being dangerous was pre-mature.

She then saw him get up suddenly and stand there, rigid as a statue for a few minutes. Thane turns his head in her direction and the rest of his body follows suite.

Mana was starting to get suspicions _'wait a minute… he couldn't have…'_

Thane, without any kind of warning, dashes in her direction and skids to a halt right in front of her.

Mana was momentarily stunned.

Thane quickly bowed to her "Greetings Stalker-san! I know that you probably wanted to gather the courage to confess your feelings, but your stalking for the past four days has been driving me crazy! So if it's alright with you, could we start out as friends? And if not, please don't shoot me!"

"Huh?" was the only thing that came out of Mana's mouth. She was, momentarily, at a loss for words.

Thane quickly stood back up and saw her blank expression _'oh shizz! I screwed up!'_ Thane sat there for a moment longer before he took off running.

Mana snapped out of it and threw her paper to the side, a calm and precise look on her face _'he's been aware of me for the last four days!-? How? Never mind that right now, I need to catch him first!'_

Thane dashed into an alley way followed closely by Mana as she skidded into the alley after him.

Thane looked behind him and saw her gaining on him with a cold expression on her face

_'Holy crap! She's gonna kill me!'_

Thane faces forward and jumps on a trash can, launching himself onto the emergency fire escape, and quickly climbs onto it.

Thane takes the steps two at a time until he gets to the top, and turns around to see if she is still gaining on him.

The sound of a click causes him to freeze and slowly turn around, coming face to face with the barrel of an IMI Desert Eagle, oh and the cool and pretty Stalker lady.

"Alright, out with it. How did you know I was following you?" Mana's voice was calm while still keeping a threatening tone to it, plus the gun was also doing wonders.

Thane was panicking at this point _'am I still going to get the bad ending even if I run away!-? Not a game you moron! Focus!'_

Thane pointed at her "kinda hard not to notice you lady! I haven't seen that many girls with skin as dark as yours on this campus with the ice queen look! And on an off note… who do you think you're kidding? I mean, seriously, trying to pass yourself off like you're in middle school? Nice try lady, but don't you think that trying to relive your teen years is a little sad?"

A twitch was quickly growing in Manas temple as Thane continued to run his mouth off "Oh really? Well sorry for looking so old, and forgive me if, due to my age, I _accidently_ fire due to faulty memory"

her trigger finger was just itching to put a bullet through his mouth, which did not go unnoticed by the man facing the end wear the bullets came out.

_'You frikken moron! She is holding a gun in your face! Why are you insulting her!'_

Thane quickly closed his hands in apology "sorry, did I say old? I meant that you seemed to exude an air of experience that belays your age Stalker-san"

though Thane was desperately trying not to get himself shot, the words he spoke were actually true. He really could feel her air of power under those cold Amber eyes.

Mana, though still peeved at the older statement, decided that it wasn't the most important thing right that instant. She kept the gun trained on him as she closely examined his every movement "anyway… Answer my question, how did you know I was tailing you?"

Thane Sighed "I wasn't joking when I said that there wasn't that many Dark skinned girls like you on this campus, and you're about the only one who has had a consistent watch on me the whole time. Plus, your gaze was really intense; no way could I miss that. Not only that but I consistently kept going to the same open places with the girls to check and see if you followed, and you did."

Mana didn't show it, but she was rather impressed with his observation abilities, needless to say, she had underestimated him "very observant of you."

Thane shrugged his shoulders "thanks, now could you stop pointing that thing at me? I don't like the thought of my brains outside of my skull."

Mana eyed him for a few seconds longer before she twirled the gun for a few revolutions, and in a fast fluid motion, stowed it away in the holster on her side.

Thane let out the breath that he had been holding and let his shoulders slump down in relief "Now that I answered your question, I would like it if you answered one of my own. Who are you and why have you been following me?"

Mana stared at him for a few seconds before she simply sighed "My name is Mana Tatsumiya, and as for why I was following you, I was hired to watch you by the headmaster. Since Takahata-Sensei can't do it, I was second on the list. Answer your question?"

Thane was giving her a weird look, which slightly unnerved her

"what?"

"So let me get this straight, you weren't following me because you where madly in love with me and wanted to keep me in sight 24/7?"

now it was Manas turn to have a strange look "…how the hell did you come to that conclusion?"

Thane could only shake his head at his own stupid idea "Don't worry about it. Just my imagination running wild… So the headmaster asked you to keep an eye on me eh? You know, you could have done that while telling me about it. You wouldn't have to skulk around in the shadows, plus, I'm a real friendly fella!"

Mana continued to give the pale youth an icy look "my job is to keep an eye on you until Takahata-sensei returns, nothing more, nothing less."

And with that, Mana quickly departed, leaving Thane to scratch his head at her cold behavior towards him

"Huh… some like their pickles sweet I guess… Uh… I don't think that term is known in this world…"

**Xx Day Six (day before the new term starts, A.K.A Sunday) xX**

Thane yawned loudly as he sat lazily on the steps to the World tree Plaza

"I wonder when Setsuna is going to get here…"

Thane had decided to skip the early morning jogging due to the fact that he had overslept, and had come straight to their normal training spot to wait for her.

However, she was running a little late and Thane was getting both Impatient and hungry (he still hasn't learned how to use Yen yet.)

After a few more minutes of waiting, Thane saw somebody come over the steps, however, it wasn't Setsuna like he was expecting.

It was Mana Tatsumiya.

Thane couldn't hide the shock on his face "Sta-Stalker! What are you doing here? Have you finally come to confess your lo-"

***click***

the sound of a gun loading quickly shut his trap.

Mana Stops in front of him, her expression as cool as ever "no, and before you start with that smart aleck mouth, I have a message from Setsuna. She says that she won't be able to make it today."

Thane falls onto his back and sighs "great! Now what am I going to do? *sigh* oh well…"

Thane looked up at the sky for a few more seconds before he notices that Mana is still standing there.

He sits back up with a quizzical look on his face "you need something?"

Mana shakes her head "No, I actually have another message for you"

Thane cocked his head to the side in curiosity "From who?"

"The Headmaster, he wants to see you as soon as possible. I trust you know how to get there?"

Thane scoffed at her question "I have been exploring this campus for over 6 days now! Of course I know!" he jumps up and takes off down the steps.

**Xx An hour later xX**

"I am so damn lost…" Thane was sitting on a bench close to one of the many gyms on campus and was silently fuming.

_ 'Well this sucks…I've been exploring this campus for 6 days now, of course I know where to go! Bull shit, I've just been going to the same places for the past six days, I don't know where anything is!'_

Thane leaned back with a defeated look on his face "I wish I had a map…"

"Thane-san?"

Thane sat up, recognizing a familiar voice.

Staring at him from across the Fence in a school swimsuit was Akira Okochi. She looked like she had just gotten out of the outdoor pool, the small droplets of water lightly falling down her body, which Thane noticed was rather well toned.

"Akira-san? Hey!"

Thane quickly got up and walked over to her stopping just short of the fence.

She had a towel in her hands and had tried to dry her hair off before he came over, but put it on her shoulder to talk to him

"What are you doing here Thane-san?"

Thane smiled at her "getting rather lost actually. So what are you doing in there? I didn't know that the Gym pool was open at this time of the morning."

Akira had a sheepish look on her face "it normally isn't, but I'm a member of the swimming club, so I have a key to get into a few of the pools."

Thane gave her a light smile "Ah-ha… I see… You must be really dedicated to the swim team if you go swimming at 6 in the morning"

Akira lightly shook her head "It's not that I'm really dedicated, I just love to swim, that's all. Oh, but that doesn't mean I don't put in all my effort for the club."

"Huh… That's interesting…"

A moment of silence went by; causing both of them to start trying to find things of interest to look at, like leafs.

_'Now that I think about it, she and I don't tend to really talk too often. Yuna and Makie are the ones who start the conversations…'_

"Soooooooooo… can I come in?"

Akira lightly jumped "Oh! Um… I don't know… I mean, I'm not even really supposed to be in here myself…"

Thane gave her a Mischievous smile "Oh my, Akira doing something against the rules? Uh-oh, naughty naughty…"

Akira quickly became flustered "N-No! I mean, I am a part of the swim club, so it shouldn't count… technically…"

Thane laughed at her flustered expression "relax, I won't report you or anything, and now that I think about it, I have to be somewhere. Catch you later Akira-san"

he waved his hand at her and started to walk away.

Akira held out her hand "Ah! Wait!"

Thane stopped and turned around, a light look of confusion apparent "yes?"

Akira realized that her hand was still out and pulled it into the grip of her other hand, her eyes avoiding his _'…Why did I stop him?'_

"Um… if I may ask, where are you going?"

Thane rubbed the back of his head "at my pace, the middle of nowhere, but I am going to the headmasters office, why do you ask?"

Akira couldn't bring herself to look directly into his eyes, and every time she did, her Chest would start to get tight and all her blood would rush to her cheeks _'what is wrong with me?'_

"You said that you were rather lost, so I thought that maybe I could help you out, if you wanted me to that is…"

When she looked back at him directly, she saw that he was right in front of her on the other side of the fence, gripping it with a hopeful look

"really? You would help me out? Oh thank you Akira-san! Thank you! I was actually supposed to be there an hour ago, so I'm a little pressed for time…"

Akira nodded her head in understanding "I'll hurry and get changed then"

Xx a few minutes later xX

Akira locked the fence gate and put the key in her pocket, Thane was standing next to her and ready to go

"lead the way Milady, your knight will keep you safe along the way"

Akira's face was bright red at that. She shook her head to calm herself down "So you're looking for the headmaster's office? That isn't too far from here actually, about a twenty minute walk"

Akira starts her pace with Thane following closely behind, not wanting to get lost again.

The Pair walk in silence for a few minutes, an air of awkwardness growing with each step.

Thane keeps taking glances at her, the feeling of familiarity coming back in full force _'what is with this silence? And why does she feel so familiar? As far as I know, the only thing that felt like this was… There's something about her…'_

"Soooooooooo… Akira-san…"

Akira stood at attention "ye-Yes?"

"Ummmmmm…you see…uh…well… damn, how do I put this…"

he started to scratch the back of his head in nervousness which, in turn, caused Akira to get nervous.

after a few more moments of contemplation, Thane simply sighed in defeat "you know what? Never mind, forget I said anything."

_'I'm probably just imagining it. I mean, the last time I felt one of those was when I was back home in Estoria'_

Right beside him, Akira was having her own internal monologue _'What do you mean, forget about it? Now I can't help but think about it! What did he want to say? And why does he feel so… Different? It feels… nostalgic… What am I even thinking about? I've never even meet him before!'_

The two continued to walk in silence for a few double digit amounts of feet before Thane finally broke the silence between them again "so Akira-san, besides swimming, what other things do you like doing?"

though a little caught off guard by his sudden question, Akira lightly smiled to herself "I like to hang out with my friends. That's one of the things I enjoy the most. Just as much as swimming, if you can believe it."

Thane smiled at her "nah, I find that really easy to believe, you look like you have a lot of fun when you're around the other three, and your smile looks especially nice during those times as well."

Akira looked away from him as she lightly smiled to herself, a small amount of accomplishment welling up in her for reasons unknown even to herself.

with the ice broken, Akira and Thane simply made small talk until they approached a familiar building.

Thane threw his arms into the air "Finally!"

he turned to Akira and smiled at her "thanks Akira-san, if you hadn't been around, I probably would have ended up on the other side of campus again"

Akira gave him a warm smile "My pleasure, do you need help getting to his office as well?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "hey now, I don't think I'll get lost inside the building itself… but… if you want, could you accompany me anyway? We don't really get to talk that often, and I liked our earlier conversations"

Akira nodded her head "sure."

Despite what he said, Thane still had to let Akira guide him to the headmasters office.

After a few more minutes of climbing stairs and winding down hallways, Thane finally stood in front of the familiar double doors, a little hesitation evident in his posture. _'now that I think about it, what does the old man want with me?'_

Akira stood next to him with some concern on her face "is everything alright Thane-san?"

Thane started to scratch his chin "yeah, I'm fine. Well… Thanks for helping me out Akira-san" he gave her a smile, as if to emphasize his thanks.

She gave a smile of her own "no need to thank me, I was happy to help… I guess I'll see you sometime later then?"

Thane noticed a hopeful tone in her voice, but didn't pay it much mind "yeah, I will. See you later Akira-san"

Thane watched her bow and turn down the hall way and disappear around the corner.

he turned back toward the doorway and took a deep breath "phew… here goes nothing…"

he reached up with his hand and knocked on the door, the knock sounding like a massive boom in his ears that seemed to continue into eternity.

A voice that was easily recognizable as the headmaster replied "It's open!"

Thane took one last deep breath and opened the door into the familiar office.

Thane closed the door behind him and saw the headmasters chair turned away from the entrance towards the window "I'll be with you in a moment! In the mean time take a seat"

Thane quietly walked toward the headmaster and sat in one of the empty chairs by the desk, his hands nervously moving about trying to find something to occupy themselves.

"Um hum… I see… He'll be here tomorrow then, that's good… I hope to have that resolved soon. I'll call you back to give you the answer when I know it myself."

The headmaster put a phone that had been out of Thanes sight away and turned to face him "ah! Thane-kun! Here at last! How are you doing?"

Thane bowed his head in greeting "Rather well, thank you for asking Headmaster. Now not to seem like I am being rude, but what did you call me for?"

The headmaster started to stroke his beard "ah, directly to the point then. You see, I have called you here to turn in that favor you owe me"

Thane sat up straight in nervousness "and what is it that you would have me do?"

Konoemon put his hands together and lightly laughed "I'll tell you in a moment, but first, I want you to do something for me…"

before Thane could ask what it was, the Headmaster opened one of his drawers and pulled out about 16 pieces of paper stapled together, placing it in front of Thane.

"if you would, I would like for you to answer all of those questions for me" He pulled a pencil out of thin air and handed it to him "you Don't have a time limit, but I want you to finish as quickly as possible"

Thane took the Pencil and paper with a confused look on his face, but proceeded to start. Less than 30 minutes later, Thane set the pencil down and handed the paper back to the Headmaster "there you go, I'm done with it."

The Headmaster took it with a look of mild shock on his face "really now? Hum… let's see how you did then…"

Thane sat there nervously as the head master scrolled through each sheet of paper closely and with a piercing gaze

_'oh dear mother of light… I hope I didn't just do something wrong. I mean, they were fairly simple questions, but maybe I answered them wrong? Oooooh…'_

Several more tense minutes had passed before the Principle of Mahora academy placed the paper on his desk, His expression unreadable "well Thane-kun… I must say this… I am, without the shadow of a doubt, Impressed."

Thane scratched his head in confusion "how so?"

The headmaster lightly chuckled "what you just finished was the University Graduation Exam, and Might I add that you got a 100 on it. Color me impressed."

Thane gave the Old man a strange look "Um, Thanks, I guess… But it really wasn't that hard. The tests at the Aldora Magical Academy back on Estoria are much more difficult"

The headmaster started to stroke his beard "Huh… now isn't that something… Anyway, Congratulations! You have now graduated from Mahora academy as well!"

Thane was very confused _'what the Carotis?'_ "What the Carotis?" his mouth mimicking his mind.

Thane shook his head "Wait wait wait wait… What has this got to do with the Favor I owe you?"

Konoe Leaned back in his chair "a lot actually. Can't have you teaching classes without the proper credentials now can I?"

It took a moment for that sentence to sink in. After it did however, Thane jumped up out of his chair in shock "_**WHAT!-?**_ Hold on a second there! What's this about a teacher!-?"

The old man gazed up at the ceiling in thought for a moment "well… maybe not a teacher exactly, more like an assistant teacher"

Thane slammed his hands onto the desk "Still doesn't answer my question! What do you mean _'teacher'_?"

The headmaster gave him a stern look, which gave Thane a chill up his spine "calm down Thane-kun."

Thane stared back at the Old man for a second more, but sat back down "sorry, lost my temper their…"

The headmasters gaze became softer and a slight crinkle of a smile appeared on his face "it's alright, I understand your confusion. But allow me to explain."

Thane lifted his head and listened

"Now you see, tomorrow is the start of the new term, and we have a new Teacher coming in to take over Takahatas classes. Now due to some… complication's… It would be rather difficult for him to teach as is. So I came up with an Idea, to give him somebody that would help him out in assignments and to help keep the class under control, and I would like it if that person was you Thane-kun"

Thanes eyebrows where furrowed in concentration "why me though? Wouldn't it be easier to have Takamichi be his assistant? Plus, just as a teacher? He's coming for another reason isn't he?"

"Very perceptive Thane-kun. Yes, his real reason for coming here is to become a proper Mage. This teaching job is simply a step and a test to that. Plus, it's not like you aren't qualified to take care of younger people, From what I could gather, you have some experience in taking care of those younger than yourself, the case of your Children if I may."

Thane leaned forward "You have a point there. So his real job here is to become a proper mage huh… by the way, what kind of group of students would we be teaching?"

"You both will be teaching in the all girls middle school division of a class of thirty one students"

Thanes mouth was agape "now hold on a second. Teaching 3 kids is worlds apart from teaching 31 fifteen year old girls. I'm sorry, but I don't know if I could teach them"

the Headmaster wagged his finger at him "you appear to be misunderstanding something Thane-kun. You won't be teaching the Class, the new teacher will. Your role is to help him out, that is all. You'll only need to teach on the few days that he wouldn't be able to, However, I won't force you to do it if you don't wish to."

Thane sat back and thought about it for a moment _' I really don't know if I could do this… but… sooner or later, I am going to need to get some form of employment and to get Finances. I don't think it will really get in the way of me returning Levy, Dark, and Troy to their Physical forms either… but still… thirty one girls?... seems like a work load…"_

A few more Minutes of silence pass between the Old man and the Pale youth before anything happens.

Thane sits up straight and clears his throat "alright then, I'll do it."

Konoe sighed in relief "Ah… Thank goodness… I really don't know what I would have told Magus if you refused…"

Thane held out his hand to the Headmaster with a serious look on his face.

This confused Konoe "What is this?"

"This, Headmaster, is a covenant between you and me. You have given me an Opportunity at new life, something I will forever be grateful for, and In return, I will do the task that you have given me with nothing but my all, This I promise you."

Konoemon Konoe was momentarily speechless. He then smiled warmly at the young man that had a hidden wisdom "you are indeed a rare breed Thane Mastizetai"

The headmaster reached over and shook his hand "very well, I will hold you to that promise Thane-kun"

Thane sat back and started to scratch his chin "Might I ask who it is that I will be assisting in class for the next three months?"

The headmaster smiled warmly at an old memory "His Name is Negi Springfield, and I hope that you both will get along well"

**Xx Monday 7:28 A.M. Outside the campus train stop xX**

Thane was standing at the stop, holding a brand new cell phone that he had received from the Headmaster, checking the time for about the 20th time in a row

"Geez… when is this stupid train going to get here? We're already going to be hard pressed for time just getting him to the headmaster's office…"

Thane had also been told that he needed to find two girls that were the welcoming committee as well, Asuna Kagurazaki, and Konoke Konoe.

Unfortunately, nobody told him what they looked like, so he was kinda at a loss on that one. Nobody had told him what this Negi fellow looked like either, so he was kinda up the jagged creek without a paddle in terms of Identification.

_'I guess I'll just call their names real loud and hope I get the right person…'_

Thane saw the train out of the corner of his eye and put the phone away "Finally!"

he walked over to the front of the doors and waited for the train to stop.

Thane watched as the train pulled up and eventually come to a stop, what he failed to notice, however, was the massive amount of students that were ready to bolt out the door.

Thane watched the doors open "Exc-" he never even got the first word off.

A hail of younger students poured out of the train in a massive rush with Thane getting run over by all of them **"OH SWEET MOTHER OF MERCY!"**

After a few more seconds of the mad rush, Thane finally managed to pull himself out of the storm, with lots of foot prints and maybe a tread mark or two imprinted onto his body "Holy Crips! Note to self: never, I repeat, **NEVER**, Stand in front of the campus train doors ever. Again."

Thane looked down at himself and saw the ugly mess that was his brand new suite "Oh, come on… Wait, are those tread marks? Somebody ran me over with skates? Oh I'm pissed now…"

Thane looked back up and saw the horde of students quickly getting further away from him "Oh Shit! I think this Negi fellow is in there somewhere! I need to catch up!"

Thane focused on the soles of his feet for a moment, using What Setsuna said about Chi and putting it to practice.

The next thing he knew, he was dashing after the students, gaining on the people and started to look around "Excuse me! Hey! Can I get somebody's attention here?"

However, the students where too preoccupied with getting to class on time then dealing with a lost foreigner.

"Takahata-sensei! Takahata-Sensei! Takahata-Sensei! Takahata-sensei! Takahata-sensei! ARF!"

Thane looked over and saw a red head calling out the name of the older gentleman; he scratched his head at the oddity _'the heck was that about? Oh well, not my problem'_

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Thane saw a young boy with Auburn colored hair run next to her and say something that he couldn't hear.

However, whatever it was, it pissed her off "wh- What! How'd you like to be broken squirt!-?"

he saw the kid suddenly start panicking "Nu-uh not so much!"

Thane watched the girl continue to explode in anger at the young lad with an eyebrow raised at her Temper _'Good lord, does that girl have anger issues?'_

His question was answered when a girl with chocolate brown hair spoke up to the red head, which at this point had picked the boy up by the top of the head with threats of making him cry

"So how'd that anger management class go for you Asuna?"

_'So she does have anger issues… wait… Asuna? Isn't that the name of one of the girls I'm looking for? Hum, better check'_

Thane walked over to the trio and when he got close called out "Excuse m-"

However, before he could get the words out, the sound of a familiar voice called out "Hey Asuna-kun! Still making friends I se- Negi-kun!-! Long time no see!"

Thane looked up and saw Takamichi calling out to the trio.

Thane saw the three people look up and each have different reactions

"Takahata-sensei! G-good Morning!" the red head was acting all flustered while the Chocolate girl gave a polite greeting.

The kid's reaction surprised him though "Small world! Hi Takamichi!"

Thane saw the older man look over at him and his eyes lit up in slight shock "ah! Thane-kun! Found the welcoming committee have you?"

Thane saw the other three look over at where he was gazing right at Thane "Yo Takamichi! Hey! And Thanks for telling me who I was looking for! Not like I needed a description or anything!"

the older man simply laughed "Ah ha ha! Sorry about that Thane-kun! Or should I call you both Sensei now eh Negi?"

The girls looked back and forth between the two new teachers in confusion while Thane crossed the last little bit of distance between them.

Thane saw the boy clear his throat and bow after regaining his composure "Hello their, My name is Negi Springfield and I will be teaching English at this academy"

Thane was shocked_ 'wait, THIS is Negi Springfield? He's gotta be, what? Ten years old by the looks of it…'_

Thane saw the red head seem to double over in shock "say what!-?"

Thane walked over next to Negi and look down at him with a little disbelief on his face "Your Negi Springfield? Huh… weird… My name is Thane Mastizetai, and I guess from here on out, I'm to be your assistant."

Thane saw out of the corner of his eye that Asuna was having a hard time registering all of this "wait! Hold on a second! This ten year old is a teacher? I don't believe it! And you!"

She pointed at Thane, who also pointed at himself

"Me?"

"Yeah! You! You look like you're around my age! And you're going to be his assistant!-? There is something seriously wrong here!"

Thane simply shrugged his shoulders "true, it is odd. But I don't think you should come to a conclusion just yet about the Kid here"

It was at this point That Takahata, who had worked his way outside, decided to step in "I can understand your disbelief and confusion Asuna-kun, but they are actually really smart"

"well they'd have to be wouldn't they?-!"

"And it would seem that from today onward, they'll be taking over Class 2-A for me"

Thane watched Asuna fall over in a comical manner "WH-What!-? He can't do that! If he did it would bre- bre-…"

Negi filled in that sentence for her "break your heart?"

"Yeah! Break my- WHO ASKED YOU YA LITTLE-!-?"

She picked him up and started to shake him wildly "how'd you Take over his classes you twerp!-? You nit! You nothing!"

Thane had finally had enough "Ok! Seriously! Quiet picking on the ki-"

Thane saw her hair brush against Negi's nose and could feel a buildup of magical power coming from him

"AH-!"

Thane instantly stopped _'Ohhhh, I have a feeling this won't end well…'_

**"ACHOO!"**

A massive blast of wind erupted from the little body and proceeded to blow Asuna's clothes off, reveling her strikingly white wool bear panties.

It took everybody a moment to register what just happened.

Asuna looked the most shocked when she realized her clothes where off

"wh-" she looked over to Takahata who was looking over at something in the sky in embarrassment.

She fell to the ground and started to yell "**WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!-?"**

Thane reached into his bag and pulled out his black cloke, and quickly covered the girl so that she wouldn't catch a cold, and proceeded to go get her clothes _'well this is an interesting way to start the semester off…'_

**Xx Thirty minutes and a new set of clothes later xX**

Asuna, now dressed in gym clothes, had her arms crossed with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance in her expression "Please headmaster, tell me this is a joke or… or something!"

The Old man stroked his beard as he observed the people present in the room "I could, but that would be lying. so…"

He turned his gaze towards the young Negi, who looked like he was rather nervous.

"_'Professor'_ Negi… This teaching post should be a rather large hurdle in your training eh?"

Negi nodded his head "yes sir, But I will do my best."

Thane, who was sitting in a corner sewing the buttons back onto Asuna's blazer, Couldn't help but smile at the young man.

The Headmaster interrupted his train of thought "You'll do better than that. Anyway… you will teach until March, a trial period to see how you do, but, considering that you are rather young to be doing this on your own, I have taken the Liberty of giving you an assistant that should be able to help you"

He motioned for Thane to step up.

Thane checked the Blazer one more time, deeming that the buttons wouldn't fall off again; he handed it back to Asuna and walked next to Negi.

"I already introduced myself, but allow me to do so again. ***uh-Hum*** Greetings, my name is Thane Mastizetai, recent graduate of Mahora Teaching division and a current student to the Estoria Elitist College of Genius and Advancement, or EGA for short. Nice to meet you Negi Springfield"

Thane held his hand out in greeting.

Negi, who was feeling just a little (lot) Intimidated by the prestigious sounding school, hesitated to shake his hand.

Thane noticed this and gave him a big smile _'poor kids stiff as a board, let's see if I can loosen him up a bit…'_

"Don't worry Negi, I don't bite, except on Thursdays, and that's only when they serve bad meatloaf."

Negi was confused for a moment before he got the dry humor, which caused him to smile lightly.

He shook Thanes hand with more confidence then he had a moment ago "Nice to meet you Thane-san. I may be inexperienced at this, But I hope you can give me guidance in the future"

Thane lightly laughed "Ha! That goes for both of us!"

The headmaster lightly chuckled at this "ah yes Negi, if you require a girlfriend, my granddaughter, Konoke, is available."

Suddenly, said girl bashed her Grandfathers head with a hammer that she pulled seemingly out of nowhere "Thanks loads Grandpa"

Thane started to inwardly scowl _'wait a minute… he offers his granddaughter to a ten year old but all I get is jack? I feel a little miffed here…'_

The headmaster turned to Thane, blood coming out from the hammer wound "ah this offer also extends to you as well Thane-kun"

Thane was now smiling on the inside _'I feel a little better now…'_

Very petty.

Asuna had seriously heard enough "Uh Hello? This is me, still not buying a kid and a teenager as our teacher! Our homeroom teacher for that fact! It's unacceptable!"

the headmaster, who now had I giant band-aid on his head, gave her a serious look

"It is not for you to accept Asuna, but for me to. And I do…" His attention turned to Negi "…For now. But Negi, if you fail your training… There will be no Second chances. Understand?"

"Crystal, Sir. If I fail… Except… I won't. That's all. I won't fail"

Thane lightly scratched his chin, A big grin on his Face at seeing a determination that belayed the boy's years.

Thane reached over and started to ruffle the top of his head, which caused Negi to flail in confusion "Don't worry; I'm here to help, and I sure as Carotis will not let you fail."

He stopped scratching Negi's head and shrugged his shoulders "Besides, it's teaching! What could possibly go wrong?"

**Xx Class room 2-A xX**

Evangeline A.K McDowell looked up from her book with a laugh "Ha! Famous last words!"

Chachamaru Karakuri looked over at her master with her expressionless face "Master, who are you talking to?"

the blond haired girl scratched her head in confusion "I don't know… felt appropriate for some reason…" She looked back down at her book, feeling the need to prove somebody wrong.

**Xx Headmasters Office xX**

The Headmaster laughed heartily "Ha Ha! Just what I like to hear, well let's start you off today then! Though Thane will be your assistant, I have also decided to give you an advisor as well. Shizuna-kun are you there?"

Thanes eyebrows furrowed in concentration _'who was Shizuna again? ... Hum… all I get is a big rack…'_

"Yes sir"

Both Thane and Negi turned towards the open door, however, whereas Thane **saw** Shizuna, Negi ended up getting his face buried in her large marshmallows.

Thane suddenly felt rather pissed off _'lucky little…'_

Thane saw her reach down and pat Negi on the head, who by the way, was looking up at her through her impressive valley

"You must be the famed Negi I've heard so much about"

the headmaster, who also looked a little jealous, spoke up "This is Shizuna, she has kept Abreast of the situation. So if you need to ask her something, she is available"

Thane lightly laughed and whispered under his breath "I'll bet…"

She gave Negi a wink "any questions before we get started?"

Negi, who was still a little stunned, only shook his head in answer.

The headmaster suddenly seemed to remember something "ah yes, one more thing…"

He looked at the two girls "Konoka, Asuna-chan we're a little short on space at the moment, is it alright if Negi-kun stays with you?"

Asuna and Negi looked shocked while Konoka just simply smiled "sure, sounds fine with me."

Asuna leaned onto the headmasters desk with a look of disbelief on her face "Wait! So were supposed to learn from Him **and** wet nurse him too!-? This is-!"

Konoka grabbed Negi by the shoulders "aw, come on Asuna, he'd be like a kid brother."

Negi and Asuna didn't look thrilled by the idea "I hate Kids Konoka!"

"Now just a minute!" Everybody in the room looked at a rather angry pale faced youth " I can understand that he gets lodging cause he's a kid, but what about me?"

The headmaster looked rather confused "what are you talking about Thane-kun?"

"I mean how I got thrown out to sleep in the wild!"

the headmaster scratched his head "aren't you staying at Takamichi's place?"

Thane rushed forward and stopped at the desk "NO! I've been sleeping on a park bench for the past week in nothing but my old clothes dodging cops and rabid dogs!"

the headmaster scratched his head "hum… sorry about that, but I'm sure it wasn't that bad"

Thane was fuming "**I have wanted posters with my face on them!****"**

He pulled out a poster with his face on it with a reward for about six hundred Yen.

The headmaster took it and laughed nervously "Eh he he… sorry about that… I'll get these removed quickly and find someplace for you to stay, agreed?"

Thane was still glaring, but it was less intense "yes please… I really don't want to get called up again…"

Konoka lightly conked her right hand in her left "ah-ha! That's where I've seen you before!"

Thane had tears running down his eyes "Great… I'm known as a criminal…"

The Headmaster cleared his throat "now that we have all that taken care of, I think it's time you got to your first class"

Both Thane and Negi nodded their heads in unison.

After letting Asuna get her school uniform back on, everybody set out for the class room.

Most of the trip was a tense silence between Negi and Asuna, so not a lot happened.

They finally got close to the class and Thane saw Asuna give Negi a strange look.

Negi also noticed it "is something…?"

She suddenly flared up at him "you'll be on the couch twerp! No bed sharing, you hear me? None!"

Konoka spoke up "Asuna! You're scaring him"

"Good!"

Thane was about to speak up in Negi's defense when she suddenly turned to him with only a little less fire in her eyes "And you! I don't know how you got a position to work here, but I don't really trust you!"

Thane could only shrug his shoulders at that "Fine with me. It's only common sense to question something like this, but I would have to ask you not to be so hard On Negi. He's new at this you know?"

Asuna lightly backed off of her comments for a moment "fine… oh and… Thanks for fixing my blazer…"

She looked kinda annoyed at saying this, but Thane only smiled at her "no problem."

Both Konoka and Asuna hurried on down the hall and into one of the doors.

Negi simply looked in the direction that Asuna ran "What's her deal?"

Thane simply shrugged his shoulders "she's a pretty nice girl… for a psycho that is."

Shizuna lightly laughed "She's a little rowdy, but she's a nice girl deep down."

Shizuna pulls a small booklet from under her arm and hands it to Negi "here's your student list, sorry Thane-san, Takahata-sensei didn't have a spare."

Negi took it with gratitude while Thane simply shrugged his shoulders, not really all that worried about it.

Shizuna saw the looks of Hesitation on both the new teachers faces "are you worried about your class?"

Negi started to fidget "A little…"

Thane started to scratch his chin "Depends. Are they all like Asuna?"

Shizuna nervously laughed "Of course not!... Well… maybe a few. Go ahead and head on in you two"

Negi was about to go in when he suddenly saw the girls through the window "Oh wow…"

Thane had to agree with that statement. The amount of people in that room would leave anybody anxious.

Thane sighed inward when he saw the nervous look on Negi's face _'Don't know what's going on through his head, but I know that this is almost out of his league, and I must be out of my frikken mind to go along with it…'_

Thane saw Negi pull back from the door and Open the student roster, a look of disbelief on his face when he saw the thirty one faces plastered there "how… how am I going to remember all of this?"

Shizuna simply smiled "good luck with their names"

Negi closed it and put it with his other books "No Kidding!"

Negi stood motionless with his hand on the door handle, a slight shiver running through his tiny frame _'God… can I really teach so many older girls? I mean, Asuna already hates me… Think I'm going to puke, my stomachs all in knots…'_

Thane reached over and patted Negi on the back "don't worry Negi, You have me to help you out if things go bad, so don't try to think you're going at it alone, Ok?"

Negi looked up at the older youth and irked out a smile _'Sister… I think I've found a good friend here In Japan'_

Thane saw Negi take a deep breath and turn the door Handel with more confidence then he had 2 seconds ago.

Thane also took a deep breath to steel his own twitching nerves _'and so it begins…'_

Negi nervously opened the door and, suddenly, something black and rectangular fell in front of Thanes eyes and stopped right before it hit Negi's head, a faint trace of magic keeping it afloat.

_'Crap! Should have known they would set up pranks! I wasn't prepared!'_

Thane saw Negi realize what he was doing and let the eraser hit his head in an explosion of white chalk.

"Oh boy…" Thane shook his head at the prank while Negi lightly coughed

"*Cough cough* Oh my Ah… ha ha ha…*Cough* I had heard that girls were clever. An Eraser on the head isn't very original… ha…"

Negi took a step forward, but Thane saw at the last second that there was a trip wire there.

He reached out his hand to stop him "Negi **Don't**-!" Too late.

To this day, Negi couldn't tell you what had happened in those next eight seconds and asking Thane would only cause him to start laughing.

The next thing Negi knew, he was on the ground with a bucket on his head and several plastic arrows suckered onto his body.

Both Thane and Shizuna where cringing from Negi's unfortunate fall.

Thane was the first to react "Negi… You ok?"

The amount of laughter in the room was rather quiet, probably due to the fact that it was a child and not an adult who got caught in the trap.

"Hey… it **is** a Kid!"

Suddenly, everybody in the room came forward to check on Negi and see if he was ok.

"Nah! Must be a midget!"

"Oh geez! We're sorry! We thought you where the new teacher!"

Both Thane and Shizuna lightly chuckled with Thane stepping forward "well, you got who you were aiming for then"

The people all looked at him with some confusion.

Shizuna stepped in at this point "Correct, he is your new teacher! In fact both of them will be your new teachers from here on out. Introduce yourselves"

She motioned for Thane and Negi to step up.

Thane, seeing that Negi was still on the ground, hauled him back up and dusted him off quickly "you go first since you're the Teacher"

Thane stood back and let Negi take the stand.

Negi nervously swallowed and stood straight "Um…Uh…well… I…"

Thane motioned for him to breathe and relax.

Negi did just that "My name is Negi Springfield. I will be your English teacher for the Third semester. And I uh… I look forward to teaching you all!"

There was a heavy silence in the room for a few seconds.

Thane nervously shuffled on his feet _'Did he screw something up? Why are they all so qui-'_

squeals of joy were heard and everybody who wasn't a male rushed forward to hug the new Child Teacher

"Kyaaaaaa! He's so cute!"

Thane had to take a few steps back so as not to get caught up in the maelstrom of female bodies.

_'Good God's… there going to smother the poor boy…'_

The sound of somebody calling his name snapped him out of his thoughts

"Thane? Is that you?"

Thane turned his attention to the source of the familiar voice and did a double take "Yuna!-?"

the energetic girl screeched to a halt right in front of him "Holy crap! It really is you! What are you doing here!-?"

Thane, however, had seen the other sports girls as well and started to wave "Ako! Makie! Akira! Hey!-!"

the other three waved enthusiastically in return.

However, the sound of yet **another** familiar voice caused him to turn his head again

"AH-HA! I knew it! I just knew he wasn't just here for study!"

Thane looked over and saw that Haruna Saotome was observing him with the interest of a hawk

"Hey Hey Haruna!"

he saw the rest of the Library trio and was practically bubbling over in excitement "Yue! Nodoka-Chan!"

he quickly dashed over and put Nodoka in a head lock while ruffling her hair.

The poor girl started to blubber out incoherent words at the surprise attack to her scalp.

Yue gave her semi-smile at Thane "what an odd coincidence. Is this what you meant when you said you needed to complete your education?"

Thane let go of Nodoka and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "Ehhhhhhh, not exactly. Circumstances put me into this position Yue-san"

Thane noticed that most of the class had quieted down and was observing him with mixed looks of wonder, shock, and maybe even a little suspicion.

Thane quickly composed himself and walked toward the front of the class and cleared his throat "Eh-hem… sorry about that. Some of you already know who I am, but most of you don't. Allow me to Introduce myself. My name is Thane Mastizetai and from today onward, I will be Negi-sensei's assistant in class"

Thane gave a charming smile like in the book he read, which caused quite a few girls to blush " I Hope that we can all get along well."

Yet again, there was some amount of silence until it exploded into a chorus of squeals of delight.

The next thing he knew, he was surrender on all sides by female bodies, questions flying faster than he could answer

"are you a college student?"

"Re-recent graduate…"

"How old are you?"

Thane had to think about that one_ 'can't tell them my real age, not like they'd believe it, so…'_ "18"

"you are H.O.T!"

"Uh thanks?"

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"What? No I-"

"want to go out?"

"Wha? Who said th-!"

"What's your phone number?"

"Now wait a minute!"

Thane was seriously in trouble here.

He swore that somebody kept touching his ass and the girls hands were defiantly moving to places that they should **not **be at.

However, the sight of a certain dark skinned person sent him flying back against the wall

"YOU!-!-! What are you doing here?-!"

Thane's finger was pointed at Mana Tatsumiya, who had a cold poker face

"what are you talking about? I'm a student here"

"I call bull shit on that claim! There is no way that you're below fifte-"

The flash of what looked like a gun shut his mouth faster than greased lightning.

Suddenly, Thane saw Asuna grab Negi by his collar and had practically slammed him on his desk

"You! You did something weird to that eraser before it hit you! What was it?"

both Thane and Negi were sweating bullets at this point _'holy shizz! That girl has got awesome eyesight!'_

Negi nervously looked at her "Moi…?"

Asuna started to shake him violently "save your fancy Greek!"

"Ack!"

Thane had to think about that for a second _'I think that was French, but I'm not familiar with this worlds cultures, so I could be wrong…'_

Thane, not wanting to see Negi pounded into paste, quickly took control of the situation "now hold up there Asuna Kagurazaki, how about you quit man handling your teacher and take your seat?"

Asuna gave him a glare "and ignore what I saw?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "what? Something odd about the eraser before it hit him in the head? And what exactly are you suggesting? That he has superpowers or something?"

Asuna, though still glaring at him didn't say anything.

"Thought as much, so if we could all return to our seats, we can get this lesson started"

However, Asuna wasn't done yet "and what about you? You're around our age! How can you be teaching us?"

this caught the attention of a red haired girl who Thane couldn't help but associate with a pineapple "she is right, you know. You're pretty young to be a teacher."

A girl sitting in the back of the class with round glasses nodded her head in agreement "yes, it is true. Do you have proof that you're a teacher?"

Thane was internally fuming _'we are never going to get this class started if people keep asking questions! Next time, I'm just going to make a big ol sign with the answers to universe on it…'_

Shizuna clapped her hands together to catch everybody's attention "The headmaster and I can personally vouch for both of them. I also believe that Takahata also acknowledges them considering he gave them his student register"

she motioned for Negi to hold up the book, which he did quickly.

_ 'Thank you Shizuna-sama!'_ Thane sighed in relief and went to stand next to Negi.

Thane nodded at him to start the class.

Negi quickly got his book out and grabbed a piece of chalk "Ok… if everybody would turn to page 76…and…uh…"

Thane looked over and saw Negi desperately reaching up to write in the middle of the board.

He almost started laughing, but kept himself under control.

However, the rest of the class had no problem with laughing at the little display.

"A little help please?" Thane was about to suggest that he get a stool, when One of the girls appeared out of nowhere and place a rather fancy looking stool by his feet "here, use this Negi-sensei"

Negi looked at her in relief "Ah Thank you…uh…"

She stood back up and pushed her hair behind her in a flourish " my name is Ayaka Yukihiro, the class representative of class 2-A"

Negi nodded his head "Ah yes, Thank you Iincho-san"

Thane however, had his eyes on the stool for a moment _'where the Carotis did she pull that from?'_

After a few more moments of refusing her offer to hold him up, the class started to get right back on track.

Thane stood next to Negi's desk, watching him for a few more moments when he suddenly saw something fly by and hit Negi in the back of the head

"Ow!"

Negi quickly turned to see who the would be assailant was, but got nothing.

Thane, however, had some Idea of who it was and kept glancing in her direction _'Gods, what is Asuna's problem? She picks on him like no tomorrow…'_

Thane saw something shimmering out of the corner of his eye and turned to look.

He saw a ghostly girl sitting in the seat next to the Pineapple girl, looking at him with a quizzical expression.

However, it had distracted him long enough for Asuna to get another shot off on Negi.

"Ouch!" Negi quickly took another look around.

"Something wrong sir?" Ayaka looked at Negi with some concern in her voice.

"Well, either you people have really big mosquitoes or…"

Ayaka leaned in close, which caused Negi and Thane to do the same "That would be **that** girl's handiwork…"

Thane scratched his chin "I assume you're talking about Asuna?"

Negi looked Over at Thane in confusion "eh? Asuna-san?"

Ayaka nodded her head "it would be best for both of you if you didn't get to close to her…"

Both Negi and Thane looked confused about this "eh? Why?"

"Girls got more issues then the Japanese Times; she's been dropped on her head as a baby, repeatedly. Plus she watches too much T.V, you know, all that sex and Violence…"

Thane gave her a doubting look, feeling that a lot of that was biased.

Negi, however, was taking it word for word.

Suddenly, a pencil case flew out of nowhere and smashed the class rep in the back of the head, needless to say that the projectile came from Asuna.

This in turn, caused it to escalate into an all out brawl between them.

_'Oh snap…'_ was the only thing Thane could think of.

Negi, being the responsible teacher, was trying rather badly to break it up "uh… pl-please stop fighting…"

the whole class was cheering them on at this point and Negi looked over to Thane with tears running down his eyes, hoping he would do something.

Thane flinched at this _'aw shit! You want __**me**__ to break this up!-? Hell no! You don't get between cats when they fight do you!-? Same difference with girls!'_

Negi's face just kept getting more pathetically cute however _'Aw sonuvabitch… don't pull those adorable eyes on me! I can't say no to them! ... God's damn it!'_

Thane gave him a rather weak smile "I'll try to stop them…"

the look on Negi's face would have left the most iced over monster feeling warm and fuzzy.

Thane walked over and got just outside of the maelstrom that was Asuna and Ayaka fighting and was pathetically trying to stop them _'I am going to die…'_

"O.K girls, let's give it a rest shall we? Let's try to end the day with no broken bo-"

Apparently, Thane had inched just a fraction of an inch too close to the fight, because a punch or a kick, he still couldn't tell which one, flew out of nowhere and smashed him straight in the face.

Now this wouldn't be that odd except That Thane was born with weak capillaries in his nose, so the explosion of blood that followed the impact was quiet spectacular in an aesthetic murderous sense.

Thane fell to the ground like a rock and everybody in the room went quiet.

10 seconds went by...

20 seconds went by…

"Holy crap! Asuna killed the teacher!"

The silence was broken and mass hysteria followed to fill the gap

"why am I instantly the suspect!-?"

"Because the bloods on **your hands!**"

Asuna looked at her right hand and saw that it indeed had blood on it.

She quickly tried to wipe it off.

"We gotta dispose of the body somewhere!"

The Narutaka twins were not helping the situation when they started to sing "Asuna's going to jail, Asuna's going to Jail!"

Kazumi was sitting calmly as she started to write furiously "First day of school: teacher murdered by angry student… No wait… teacher murdered by jealous angry student…Yeah that has a nice ring to it…"

Asuna quickly yelled at her "Asakura! Don't start writing crap!"

Suddenly, the sound of somebody falling out of there Chair was heard.

"Ako's down!"

Yuna yelled out "we're dropping like flies!"

and through all this, Poor poor Negi was just about on the verge of a heart attack, and Shizuna had left some time earlier, so it was up to him to try to regain control

"Um! Everybody! Please remain calm!"

no dice, the panic only continued until the sound of a massive impact could be heard and everybody shut up to look for the source of the noise.

Thane had stood back up, his fist hammered into the desk closest to him, but the sight of blood all over his face and front caused everybody to cringe " Ow...I would seriously appreciate it if you all didn't assume I was dead."

Everybody quietly watched him walk over to his bag and pull out a towel and wipe the blood off his face.

He threw it to Asuna, who caught it "wash your hands off Asuna-san. I don't think you like the Idea of blood on your body."

Suddenly the bell rang, which caused Thane to look out at the hall and then back to Negi, who looked worried "are you Ok Thane?"

Thane simply shook his head "no, but I'll live. Asuna-san, you have got a damn good right straight you know that? Negi, go ahead and dismiss the class."

Negi was confused at first but quickly got the picture.

Everybody quickly dispersed except for a few people.

Thane sat down in one of the empty desks, and when he turned around, saw Both Asuna and Ayaka standing in front of the desk, both looking rather ashamed

"can I help you two?"

Both of them bowed "we are very sorry sensei"

Ayaka was the first to rise "my actions where less then adequate and I acted like a barbarian. I did not act in a manner befitting a Class representative or one of the Yukihiro group"

Asuna was scratching the back of her head "I'm… really sorry about Hitting you… you ok? Cause that was a lot of blood you lost"

Thane looked at the two for a second and gave them both a warm smile "no real harm done girls, I mean you didn't hit me that hard. I was born with weak capillaries, so just pinching my nose can start the blood flow. I mean, if anything, it was more my fault for actually getting close."

Thane saw Takamichi walk through the door and come up to Negi "So Negi-kun, how was your first day off class?"

Negi scratched the back of his head "not to gre-"

before he could say another word, Thane dashed forward and grabbed his shoulder "our day was perfect! I mean you should have seen him Takamichi! He didn't need me at all today! I mean, hell! Asuna was a bigger help then I was! Sure, there were maybe one or two mishaps, but he handled them perfectly! Right Negi?"

Negi was too shocked at his lies to say anything more than a yes.

Takahata gave him a grin "that's good to hear!" he patted Asuna on the shoulder "and it's good to know that you're giving them support Asuna-kun" he walked away with a smile on his face.

Asuna was absolutely ecstatic and rubbed her shoulder, but quickly shook her head and turned to Thane with some anger in her voice "why did you lie like that? You should have written me up or something!"

Thane gave her a confused look "why in the name of Terrathrax would I do that? I got hit cause I was careless, certainly not your fault by far."

Asuna couldn't even find the words to describe this guy, careless? No, carefree seemed the better choice of word.

"Agh! Whatever! And you!" she pointed at Negi "you're supposed to be the teacher! You hardly did anything and let your assistant solve all the problems!"

she quickly left the poor kid and followed the rest of her class mates.

Thane saw Negi hang his head low with a look of depression on his face "hey! Come on Negi! It wasn't that bad! Sure, we never even started the lesson, but it's only day one! We have three more months to go!"

Negi continued to look down "she was right… I hardly did anything… I knew I wasn't cut out for this teacher business…and you even got hurt because of my uselessness…"

Thane looked at Negi for a moment before he violently shook him "then you get back up and try again! **Don't **start putting yourself down just because one thing went wrong! I only got hurt because of my own carelessness; nothing you did caused that ok?"

Negi looked back up at him, a little less hopeless then he was a moment ago, but he still didn't say anything.

Thane let go of him and scratched his chin "you have a dream Negi?"

Negi was slightly confused by the rather random question but nodded his head "ye- yes I do"

Thane smiled at him "how long have you had this dream of yours?"

Negi closed his eyes and remembered the one snowy night all those years ago "… six years now…"

Thane patted him on the head " I won't claim to know how you work, but I can guess from that alone that you have faithfully pursued this dream without hesitation for six years, not letting even the most daunting tasks keep you away from it. So like I said, don't beat yourself up over one little mishap in your training. I can feel that you wouldn't let this top you, not by a long shot."

Negi felt ashamed for having such thoughts of defeat, and lightly smacked his cheeks "you're right… sorry about that Thane…"

Thane gave him another smile "don't worry about it, now go ahead and head on, I'll clean up the classroom."

Negi nodded his head and quickly ran down the hall out of sight.

Thane smiled in Negi's direction until he walked into the class room, where he sat down in one of the empty seats.

"Ha… That kid makes me think of Troy, the way he worries over things…" Thane leaned back in the chair and looked up at the ceiling "dreams huh… must be nice to have a goal like that… gah… I'm starting to preach like an old man…"

"Well I thought it was a wonderful speech"

**"HOLY SHIT!"**

Thane fell back in his chair in shock and looked back up to see the Ghost girl he saw earlier hovering right next to him.

He quickly got back up and dusted himself off "geez! Don't do that! You scared the fire out of me!"

the Ghost girl, however, looked very shocked.

Thane felt rather confused "what? Cat got your tongue or something?"

the Ghost girls eyes suddenly where brimming with hope "Y-you can see…me?"

Thane nodded his head "yup, sure can. Though that shouldn't be all that surprising, considering I-"

Suddenly the ghost girl began to cry, which caused Thane to take a few steps back "Whoa! Whoa! What I do? What I do?"

the Girl tried to stem the flow of tears but only succeeded in making her sleeve wet "*Sniff* Yo- You **can **see me… *Hic* a-and hear me too… *sniff sniff*"

Thane lightly scratched his head " I guess that you haven't had a lot of contact since you died huh?"

The Ghost continued to cry, but with a little less intensity from before " yeah...I was always alone… nobody ever saying anything to me… nobody noticing me… always crying out for somebody to say a simple _'hello'_ or even just to look at me… it was always lonely…*sniff*…"

Thane sat down and let her cry in silence, knowing that that was the best he could do for her right now.

After a few more minutes of crying, the Ghost eventually spent all her tears and she floated closer to Thane "sorry about that… I… really haven't had anybody say anything to me in so long that… well, all my emotions just wanted to burst out at once."

Thane simply stared at her "I understand, it's a lonely feeling, and when somebody finally takes notice of your existence, you just want to say so many things that you just end up crying. I know the feeling all too well."

The Ghost girl gave him a cute smile "sorry, here you are counseling me, and you don't even know my name."

Thane watched her do a little curtsy "my name is Sayo Aisaka, seat number 1."

Thane bowed his head "My name is-"

Sayo spoke up "you don't have to introduce yourself to me twice sensei, I already saw you do it once"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "aw, now how am I supposed to start my pick up lines?"

Sayo smiled with a slight silver sheen that appeared on her face, which Thane assumed was a blush in her case.

"So… Thane-sensei… how is it that you can see me? I mean, most exorcists and mediums can't even see me"

_'why in the world do you want exorcists to see you?'_ Thane could only ponder on that thought, but was silent to her question for a little while.

Thane leaned back and sighed "It probably has something to do with… myself actually. Kinda comes with what I can do and from where I used to live"

the Ghost tilted her head sideways in confusion, "what do you mean?"

Thane looked her directly in the eyes for a moment, "It means that it's something I probably shouldn't tell you right now"

However, the ghost was rather captivated with his eyes, here attention being drawn there.

Sayo looked, and continued to look, something beginning to stir in her memory, "your eyes… seem really… familiar…"

Thane tilted his head at her, some slight confusion evident in his features,

"really? Why is that?"

However, the ghost was too preoccupied with her own elusive memory to try to answer his question. After a few more seconds of this, Thane smiled a little to himself and played a slight trick on her. He moved his hand out of her field of vision and quickly placed it on her forehead, lightly pushing her,

"be careful now, don't wanna get to close, I'm rather shy."

However, he noticed that she was preoccupied with something else, his hand on her forehead. She moved away from him and slowly, oh so slowly, moved her hand closer to his until it was less then barely a touch away.

Thane reached out and grabbed her hand in his own "I guess I forgot to mention that I can also touch ghosts as well. Comes with the territory you see."

It was almost too much for the Ghost girl, she simply stared at the hand on her own, a sense of warmth and comfort coming from the grasp.

Once again, the tears started to well up in her eyes "It's… it's so warm…"

Thane gave her another smile and brushed the tears from her eyes "hey… come on now. It's not right for a guy to make a girl cry for any reason"

the pair sat there, Sayo crying and Thane keeping her hand in his own to offer her just a little life in the lonely existence of a ghost_ 'I guess this girl has had it rough… she's awfully cute for a ghost…'_

After crying again for a few more minutes, Sayo pulled her hand out of his and wiped the rest of the tears from her eyes "thank you Thane-sensei…"

Thane simply shrugged his shoulders "hey, I'm an assistant teacher. Comforting ghosts is part of the job description, you know?"

Sayo lightly giggled at his droll humor "Oh… sorry, I've kept you for too long… you must have things you need to do…"

Thane stood up and examined the class room "not really. This wasn't as messy as I thought it was, I mean, none of my blood even got on the floor and the desks and chairs are in order as well. But you are right; I do have some things to do, but Sayo-san."

Sayo Stared at him with a quizzical look "yes?"

Thane slightly blushed before he started talking "If… If you need somebody to talk to, or listen to any problems you may have, or even to just hold your hand. I'm here for you, and I'm willing and able to help you anytime you need me"

Sayo simply gazed at her teacher for a few more seconds before she gave him a beautiful smile, which caused Thanes face to turn to a deeper shade of red "thank you Sensei…"

Thane waved her good bye and left the Ghost girl, feeling a little guilty about leaving at all.

**Xx About an hour later xX**

Thane was walking around in his older clothes with no particular destination in mind.

After talking with Sayo, he had gone to the headmaster's office to see if he had a place to stay.

He didn't, but he was told that they would figure it out before 7 tonight, so this left Thane with nothing much to do except wander until then.

Thane was walking on one of the rails around campus, balancing himself so as not to fall, when he suddenly saw Negi out of the corner of his eye sitting by a large statue.

_'I wonder if I should go talk to him… I know I said all that and he looked ok afterward but… oh well, I have nothing better to do anyway.'_

Thane was about to call out to him when he saw Negi looking elsewhere with a little worry.

Thane was slightly confused until he turned and saw what it was. Nodoka was carrying a large stack of books down a large flight of stairs, her body swaying to and fro with the sway of the book stack, causing her to take a step closer and closer to the edge of the stairs

_'Lord… she had better be careful… I swear, books will be the death of that girl if she doesn't pay atten-'_

Both Thane and Negi saw her take one step too far and begin to fall. "KYAAAAA!"

"NODOKA!"

without hesitation Thane dashed forward and jump off after her.

Negi quickly whipped out his staff and Chanted right below her, causing her decent to the ground to slow down.

Thane saw Negi dash forward with a speed that didn't match with his body and catch her.

Thane sighed in relief _'Thank Luxuriates!... wait… I'm still falling!"_

Thane began to flap wildly in hopes that he would suddenly learn to fly _'Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit! I'm gonna die! Wait! Chi! Cha-cha-cha Chia! Focus you moron! Your about to become a pancake!'_

Thane closed his eyes and righted himself in air with his feet down and gathered as much Chi as he could in that moment into his feet.

The Impact when he hit the ground sounded like a truck smashing into a wall and the crater he caused was about 4 feet in diameter.

Thane however, had a funny feeling in his legs_ 'there kinda tingling…'_

"Thane! Are you alright!-?"

Thane turned around and saw Negi holding Nodoka "yeah I'm fine… I think… But is Nodoka ok?"

Negi looked her over quickly and nodded his head "yeah, she's fine, just a little daz-"

When Negi looked up to talk to Thane, he saw him with his mouth agape and looking at something behind him. Negi turned around and saw Asuna with a similar expression on her face. "A-Asuna…-san?"

Thane's brain was working into overtime _'HOLY S-H-I-I-I-I-I-T! We are so busted! Wait! Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions…'_

Asuna dashed forward and tucked Negi and his staff under her right arm while grabbing Thane by his collar and dragging both along out of sight.

She suddenly held both of them in each hand and pinned them to a tree.

_'Great Terrathrax! This girl is hells stronger then she looks!'_

Thane was desperately trying to think of something to say but he saw that her attention was on Negi first

"You! You made her float long enough so you could _'catch'_ her! How the hell did you do it?-! And you!"

Her attention switched so quick that Thane flinched under her stare "You jumped off a twenty foot staircase and didn't turn into a pancake! What the hell are you two? Psychic? Aliens?"

neither Negi nor Thane could think up an excuse, so Negi decided to tell the truth "we- we're kinda mages ok?"

Asuna let them down "same difference! Wait…" She suddenly started to glare at Negi "you're the reason my clothes got blown away this morning! You little-!"

Negi was flapping his arms wildly "I-I'm sorry!"

Thane suddenly stepped in; just barely more calm then Negi "Please Asuna! Don't tell anybody about this!"

Asuna savagely steps forward with a nasty look on her face "Anybody? I'm telling everybody!"

Thane and Negi looked to each other and nodded their heads in understanding.

Negi nabbed the staff from Asuna's grasp and Thane stands next to Negi with a serious expression on his face "Then you leave us no choice!"

Asuna suddenly felt that she may have pushed her luck "Uh, what choice?"

"We'll have to erase your memory! / Snap your neck!"

obviously, they were **not** on the same wavelength.

There was a moment of awkward silence and Thane and Negi look at each other.

Thane began to blush "or… wipe her memory, that works too… but we could even the student roster up to 30 if you let me… just saying…"

Negi began to flail "why does it sound like you're not joking!-?-!"

Negi quickly composes himself and points his staff at Asuna, an aura of power building up around him.

Asuna began to hold her hand up in defense "now hold up a second! Can't we talk about th-!"

"Vanish!"

Thane suddenly had a bad feeling, very similar to the one he had this morning _'I don't think this is going to end very well…'_

The blast of Magic had a very different effect compared to what Thane was imagining.

Everything on Asuna except for her Blazer was blasted to shreds, revealing her bare naked body.

Negi's first reaction "Huh?"

Thanes first reaction "Va-Va-Voom!"

"Iyaaaaaa!" Asuna's reaction was to try to cover herself up.

Negi's face was bright red as he scratched the back of his head "Um… That wasn't supposed to happen…"

Thane face palmed "You think?"

Asuna was too stunned to say anything at all and just pointed her hand at them while shuddering in rage and shame.

For some reason that was unknown to Thane, fate had decreed that Takahata T. Takamichi would appear at that precise moment to there right.

"Hey you guys! What's going on back he-" There was silence.

Thane and Negi looked at each other, trying to think up something for this situation, and Asuna… well that didn't go over well.

"N-N-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O !"

**Xx a lot of explaining and a new pair of clothes later xX**

Thane and Negi stood behind a very depressed Asuna, trying to find a way to apologize to the girl.

Negi was scratching the back of his head "sorry… I guess that magic doesn't work so well in a different language…"

Thane was scratching his cheek "I'm guessing your memory is still there huh?"

Asuna quickly rounded on them "Still there? **Still there!-?-!** The humiliation will be seared into my brain until the day I die!"

She fell on all fours and buried her face into her arm on the ground while beating the ground with her free hand "Which, hopefully, should be any day now!"

Negi was busy trying to comfort her while Thane gave an exasperated sighed _'I'm just glad that I managed to convince Takamichi that a pack of rabid dogs had eaten her clothes… still don't know how I pulled that one off…'_

Thane was yanked from his thoughts when Asuna grabbed him and Negi by the collar and hoisted them up "what the hell are you two doing here anyway?"

Negi was really nervous, but seeing as she would either expose his secret or ground him into a pulp if he didn't talk, he decided to talk "You see, I'm here training to become a Magister Magi…"

Asuna lost the fire in her eyes for a moment "A what now?"

Negi held his hand up like a teacher would explain it "It's a sorcerer's rank you see. We go around helping people in need, kinda like guardian angels if you would. In ancient times, we did so openly, but now we live in more _'rational' _times, so we have to be more secretive. One such case is the United Nations NGO program."

Thane blinked his eyes in surprise _'I don't think I knew half of that until now…'_

Thane heard Negi continue and paid attention "right now, I kinda have a temporary License for my training."

Thane and Negi couldn't see Asuna's expression and were starting to feel a little nervous

"so what happens if you get found out?"

Negi started to panic at the thought "I would get recalled, my license would be revoked, and if I_ really_ screw up, then I'll get turned into an ermine! S- So please! Keep it a secret!"

Asuna looked up at him with a dangerous aura surrounding her with a tearstained face looking directly into Negi's eyes "So you help people huh…"

Negi quickly bobbed his head

"so that means that you'll help me out right?"

Again, Negi bobbed his head "ye- Yes! Of course!"

Asuna let both of them down and turned her attention toward Thane "and what about you? Are you in the same boat as him? Or do you have a different reason for being here?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "not really, my reasons for being here are very different from Negi's."

Both Asuna and Negi where interested in this with Negi speaking up "so what's different about you being here? Aren't you here to become a Magister Magi as well?"

Thane shook his head "no, though I am a mage in my own right. Currently, however, my own power is severely lacking, less than 2 percent actually."

Asuna started to tap her foot in impatience "so what makes you any different from him then?"

Thane didn't answer immediately "… alright. Now listen here you two, I don't want this repeated Ever. Again. Clear?"

Both Negi and Asuna nodded their heads in unison the gravity of this secret weighing on them already.

Thane took a deep breath "Ok, now the only other people who know this are Takamichi, Shizuna, and the Headmaster. I come from an entirely different world all together. It is called Estoria, with me so far?"

Both boy and girl could only nod their heads, simply shocked at this info "Good, now I escaped from my home because of a war that has been going on for nearly a century in your time between the twin major powers. The magical inhabitants of Faire and the people of Thalamear. The people of Thalamear are a highly advanced race of humanoids that use the powers of magitech, a combination of magic and machine, and the power of the mind, or Psyche in your world. The people of Faire are a magical race who calls on the powers of Elemental lords and Demons to fight."

Asuna was dumbfounded and was trying to keep up while Negi stared in awe.

Thane took a deep breath "now I say that there was a war, but it had actually ended a few years ago, with the death of the faire King Bantharoth. Now everybody on the Thalamear side had believed that since they had won, they would take all the spoils of war and subjugate the people of Faire to Thalamear rule. This was not the case however."

Negi looked confused "why is that?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "That I don't know, the current Emperor of the Thalamear, Demon Eye Odin, had decreed that the faire people could still live their lives the way they had been until then. Nobody knows why he did it, but it angered many of the citizens, and less than six months later, Nobles had conspired against Odin and caused a Coup d'état. I escaped from that world to this one when it was getting started, so that my little ones wouldn't get caught up in it again."

Thane looked away from them both into the sky _'I won't let them be subjected to that ever again…'_

Asuna and Negi where dumbstruck.

"So, as you can see, I'm technically a refugee, and the only one who can travel between dimensions, so you don't have to worry about Enemies coming to this world."

Asuna shook her head "That sounds pretty damn impressive, but how can I believe you? And who are these little ones you where talking about?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "You don't have to believe me if you don't want to, I'll leave that up to you. As for my little ones-" He reached into his shirt and pulled out the small pouch slung around his neck, opening the bag to show the little eggs "- They are currently sleeping"

Negi lightly shook his head "wow…"

Thane put the pouch back "Does that answer your question Asuna-san? If it doesn't, I'll be happy to give you a better explanation at a later date. By the way… isn't it getting late?"

Both Asuna and Negi looked at the sky and saw the sun just starting to go down. "Aw crap! Come on you two! I don't wanna be late getting back!"

**Xx a few minutes later xX**

"You got it? You both need to help me make it so that that prediction you made about me being heartbroken is false"

Negi nodded his head "right, I'll get right on it."

Thane shrugged his shoulders "technically, Negi here is the one who made the prediction, but I'll help since he is going to help you."

Asuna gave him a threatening look "you better, or else I'll expose you both in an entirely different way then you did me."

Negi scratched the back of his head "I said I'm on it…"

Asuna looked at Negi with an intense stare "so what magic can you do?"

Negi put his finger to his mouth in thought "Hum… not much really, still in training you know."

Asuna suddenly lit up "can you make love potions?"

"Eh… sorry, no"

Thane raised his hand "I can."

Asuna looked delighted "really!-?"

Thane nodded his head "sure, I would just need the appropriate Reagents and ingredients in this world, which would take a few months of study to compare different plants and what not"

Asuna snapped her fingers "crap! Well how about a tree that grows money! That way I could buy his love!"

Thane lightly frowned _'something sounds seriously wrong with that…'_

But they both gave her a look that said _'say what?'_

She turned to Thane "do you have some other worldly do-dad that could make him love me?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "I grabbed all of my stuff from my home before I came here, but I don't remember if I had anything like that… I might have a spell or two, but I'm too low on magic right now to use it even if I remembered it"

"boy, you both are rather useless magicians aren't you?"

Thane simply shrugged his shoulders while Negi lightly laughed "ha… sorry… other then Mind reading I-"

Asuna's face lit up again "now you tell me!"

Thane and Negi follow behind Asuna as she begins to think "Great! You can read Takahata-sensei's mind and figure out what his true feelings for me are!"

They arrive at the door to their class "Alright! Now that we have a plan, let's get right to it!"

She grabs the door Handle and quickly slides it open "let me just grab some stuff from my-!"

Suddenly, lights turn on and popping noises can be heard, followed by confetti falling from the ceiling. "WELCOME NEGI-SENSEI! THANE-SENSEI!"

Asuna and Negi where standing there stunned while Thane, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Asuna held up the bag she had been carrying "-desk. Great! I forgot we were having a surprise party for you guys… where's Thane?"

Everybody in the room was confused until somebody said "There he is!" Sakurako was pointing at a pair of feet that was behind the teacher's desk, which everybody recognized as Thanes boots.

Thane quickly got up with a very red face and started to dust himself off "eh…sorry…my nerves are pretty fried right now…"

nobody knew how he got from the doorway to the desk in a moment, and frankly, nobody really cared, except for a particular squinty eyed Ninja who saw him do it.

What she had seen was his military nerves kicking in, because when the poppers went off he had yelled 'hit the deck!'

He then proceeded to kick off the doorway, roll past Negi and Asuna, and slide behind the desk all in a matter of two seconds.

Kaede Nagase was scratching her chin at the expert maneuvers he had demonstrated.

"what are you doing over there Thane-sensei? Come on!" The girl known as Misa Kakizaki Grabbed the older male by his arm and dragged him to the middle table where Negi was already seated, a semi-dangerous glint in her eye.

"The guests of Honor sit in the middle!" The moment Thane sat down, girls started flooding around them both.

Negi seemed rather Ok with all the attention he was getting, Thane however, kept taking glances around the room, trying to find some way to get out of the heart of attention.

_'Geez… I hate this… I was never one for crowds…'_

Suddenly, Thane felt an arm lay itself across his shoulders. He turned to see the smiling and energetic face Of Yuna "hey there Thane! When you said you had business here on campus, you didn't tell us it would be as our teacher!"

Thane grinned at her "sometimes, life can be full of surprises Yuna. This one is just more surprising than others."

She proceeds to smack him on the back "surprised isn't the word for it! But now that you're taking over classes, my grades should start to get better!"

Thane simply laughed at her "Sorry, but I'm only the assistant. The grading will all be done by Negi-sensei, so trying to get on my good side won't do you any good"

Yuna let go of him and shrugged her shoulders "hey, can't blame me for trying."

Thane saw the rest of the Sports group and waved at them, who quickly waved back and congregated around him, Though Thane could see that Makie was trying to get a little closer to Negi.

"Sooooo… if you don't make the test or help out with the lessons… what is your job as a teacher's Assistant?" Yuna sat next to Thane.

Thane shrugged his shoulders "My real job to help Negi with making the lessons and tests, keeping the class in order. You know, take some of the work load off of Negi"

the girls nodded their heads in understanding.

Akira, however, felt a little sad about this "so does that mean you won't be able to hang out with us anymore?"

Thane quickly shook his head "Oh, no, no, no. I may have little less hours in the day, but part of the job is to get to know the students, and thankfully, I know at least a quarter of the class already. So I can still hang out."

Yuna leaned back and laughed "Thank goodness! I don't know what would have happened if I lost my free meal ticket!"

Thane lightly knocked her on the head "hey you!"

Thane continued to enjoy his conversations with the sports girls until he saw Takahata and Shizuna motion for him to come over.

He excused himself and walked over "hey you two! What do ya need?"

Takamichi lightly laughed "What makes you think I need anything? Can't I just call a friend over?"

Thane smiled "sure! But I charge 2 yen for ever yard crossed, my rates are expensive, high demand you know"

Takahata smiled "really? Better keep that in mind then… but really, how are you doing? I haven't seen you in a while, and we didn't really get to talk much this morning"

Thane crossed his arms "I'm ok right now, however, that wasn't the case when you **abandoned** me the first day, oh and thanks for that, the cops and rabid retarded dogs where lovely"

Takahata scratched the back of his head "sorry about that… Oh, I noticed that you're getting along well with some of the girls. Making friends quickly I see"

"well, I met Yuna, Ako, Makie, and Akira about the second day. Thank the Gods I did, else I would have starved."

Takamichi gave another apologetic look.

Shizuna decided to speak up "Well, I'm glad that you and Negi aren't having too much difficulty on your first day"

Thane scratched the back of his head and looked away "Uh, yeah…"

Shizuna didn't take much notice of this and continued "Oh yes, we also have your living arrangements sorted out now."

Thane quickly lit up "Thank the gods! So where will I be staying?"

She smiled and pointed at the sports group "you will be staying in the girls dorms with Akira Okochi and Yuna Akashi"

aforementioned girls heard there names and came over to stand next to Thane.

Yuna wrapped her arm around his shoulders with a big grin "wait! We get this stud in our room? Hot damn!"

Akira was lightly red and kind of flustered for some reason "isn't there something wrong with that though? I mean, a guy rooming with two girls? Not that I think that it's a problem…"

Thane, however, was just staring into space with a blank look.

_'I think my eardrums are broken, cause it sounded like she just said I was going to be rooming with girls…'_

Thane started to laugh "Ha ha ha! That's funny Shizuna-san! But seriously, where will I be staying?"

Shizuna gave her own smile; however, it hinted that this wasn't a joke "Like I said, you will be staying with the girls on either side of you"

Thane was silent for a moment longer, the sound of Ayaka and Asuna starting another cat fight in the background "…this isn't some Japanese joke right? You really mean that I am going to be staying with these two?" He jerked his Thumbs at Yuna and Akira.

Takamichi gave him a mischievous smile "what? Worried that you won't be able to hold yourself back from taking a few peeks?"

Thane gave him an annoyed look, but it couldn't hide the blush that had developed on his face.

Yuna smacked him on the back again "aw! Don't worry! I don't mind if you do! Plus, I think you may like it!"

Thane quickly rounded on her "you nut! That's not something a girl your age should be saying!"

Yuna simply laughed mischievously.

Thane shook his head and turned to Akira "are you ok with this Akira-san? I mean, I don't want to cause any kind of problems for you."

Though still slightly blushing, Akira shook her head "No, I don't mind, really. You're free to stay with us"

Thane simply shrugged his shoulders while Takamichi gave a final nod "good, it's agreed then. I'll let the Headmaster know"

Thane looked around the room real quick, and saw Asuna whispering something into Negi's ear while glancing over in this direction "uh… Oh right! Takamichi-san! I think Negi wanted to talk to you! He's over their"

After he said his goodbyes, Thane went to the corner of the room and sat down, observing the festivities that happened around him_ 'much better. I'm better off as an observer, not somebody who mingles'_

However, Thane noticed that he wasn't alone.

He turned and a small blond haired girl seated on the bench next to him.

She was giving him a strange look, and it wasn't friendly either.

Thane scratched his chin in nervousness "Um… hello? Can I help you?"

Suddenly, he felt something ancient in her eyes and sat up straight in response.

A wicked smile appeared on her face "Oh? You felt that? You're not an Average teen then are you?"

Thane gave her an intense look, which surprised Evangeline "_Chairetismoús adelfí̱ tou aímatos, boreí na chytheí aíma eléf̱thera pros timí̱ sas_" (Greetings blood sister, may blood spill freely in your Honor)

She looked at him in confusion, wondering what in the world he just said. But whatever it was, it had stirred something in Eva's memories, something from when she first had become a vampire. "What… did you just say?"

Thane had a confused expression "wait, you didn't understand me? Then are you not a vampire?"

She was now even more shocked, she quickly went on high alert, motioning Chachamaru to come quickly and stood up in haste.

Thane saw her expression change and held up his hand "Wait! Wait! Wait! Hold on a moment! I mean no harm to you!"

Eva kept her gaze lock onto him, but sat back down cautiously.

Thane sighed in relief "Yikes… scared me there for a moment …"

Eva scowled at him "who are you? Explain yourself quickly before I lose my patience"

Thane sat back up again "sorry, but I must know if you are a vampire or not before I explain"

Evangeline clicked her tongue in annoyance "yes, and how the hell do you know that?"

Thane started to scratch his chin "a vampire that doesn't know the blood greeting? That's odd… Oh wait… This isn't Estoria… shit…"

Thane felt that he may have just said something stupid.

Eva gave him a weird look "Blood greeting? Estoria? What are you talking about?"

Thane started to scratch his chin "um… this is stuff that I would rather not say in the presence of… those that are unaware of our certain traits. If you would like, I would share my story with you at a later date if that's ok."

Eva sat deep in thought for a moment _'I had only intended to see if he was magically aware, but it turns out that I may have bitten onto something with a little more meat on its bones… he doesn't appear dangerous either, but there is a strange feeling to him that I can't place my finger on…'_

Eva gave him another evil smile "very well then_ 'sensei'_ we shall enjoy a little talk tomorrow at my home after class. I hope you don't have anything planned, because I think I may enjoy myself for once in a long while, he he he…"

Thane lightly shuddered at her laugh and watched her get up and begin to walk away.

Thane suddenly remembered something "Ah! What is your name?"

She turned around and had a very evil smile on her face "fear and tremble at my name, for I am Evangeline A.K McDowell!"

Thane had a blank look on his face "what do ya mean _'fear and tremble'_ just a name isn't it?"

Eva fell in a comical manner. She quickly ran up into his face with fury in her eyes "what do you mean _'just a name'_? Haven't you heard of me before!-?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "sorry, never."

She did another fall "well… It would appear that both of us will be sharing stories tomorrow!" She quickly stormed off, muttering something under her breath about fools who don't read the stories.

Thane watched as she left _'that girl is easily angered…' _ Thane smiled a devilish smile _'could be fun to pick on her'_

Thane sat back in his seat, feeling just a little hungry.

"Asuna-san!" Thane turned toward the voice and saw Negi dash out the door after a stream of red hair.

_'Oh god's, what now?'_

He quickly got up and sneaked out after him to make sure Negi wouldn't get himself killed by Asuna.

He went out the door and saw that he had only managed to get as far as the stairs. He looked like he was talking to Asuna.

"I just want to help you that's all…"

Thane stopped and listened in, feeling that this was important.

He heard somebody sniffle "Oh… what does it matter… it's just an unrequited love anyway…"

Thane felt a little bad for Asuna even thoug he didn't know what was bothering her, and was about to go out there when he heard them start talking again " I don't even know if that stupid love potion would even help…"

there was a moment of silence before Thane saw Negi take a different pose "I'm sorry… Using magic on something like this isn't a good thing."

Thane saw Negi give her a smile "my grandfather always said that our magic is not absolute, true Magic comes from the courage of the heart."

There was another moment of Silence, but Thane was smiling at Negi from the hall "courage of the heart huh…"

"What's with that face you dope?..."

Thane did a comical fall _'way to kill the mood Asuna!'_

"Alright… I'll try to be more courageous"

Thane inched a little closer until he could peak around the corner

"But I'm going to need to use you. You'll be my Guinea pig"

Both Thane and Negi had the same thought _'guinea pig?'_

"Not in a literal sense ya dummy. I need to practice confessing my feelings"

She walked up on the same step he was on "you'll pretend to be Takahata-sensei alright?"

Negi, not really sure about what was going to happen simply agreed. However, everybody noticed the height difference, so Asuna picked him up and put him two steps up to even it out.

Thane watched her undo the bell charms that tied her hair up and watched it all fall down her back in a beautiful fiery cascade.

Thane lightly gasped at her sudden transformation.

He took a step back and leaned his back against the wall, a sudden feeling of familiarity welling in his chest _'she looks so much like Lif…'_ Thane reached into his shirt and pulled out a small pocket watch and opened it, revealing the image of a young woman with golden blond hair, radiant emerald colored eyes, and a beautiful smile standing next to a man around the same age with raven black hair, deep gray eyes, and an embarrassed look that didn't fit his serious face.

Thane smiled at the picture and lightly traced the circular ring around the watch in fond memory "Oswald… Lif…Only been gone a week and I already miss you guys so damn much right now…"

"I love you"

The sudden confession lightly jolted Thane out of his memories

"I've always loved you… Sensei."

Thane remembered that he wasn't the only one there and peaked around the corner to watch the (pretend) confession

"I've loved you for such a long time… I hope that isn't troublesome for you…"

Apparently, Thane wasn't the only one who was shocked with Asuna's sudden change as Negi was really flustered _'sh-she looks so much like my sister with her hair down…'_

Asuna turned away from him "I guess it would never work between us…"

Thane had to stop himself from shouting out 'I'll take ya!' and started to smash his head _'By Terrathrax! What is wrong with me!-? No, wait! I Know! Its cause my hormones are raging from being stuck in a class of 31 girls… and that numbers is still uneven Dammit!'_

Negi grabbed her by the shoulder "D- Don't say th-!"

he pulled her harder than he had meant and had brought their faces mere inches away from each other.

Thane was wide eyed and sitting on the edge of his imaginary seat, anticipating what would happen next _'I know this is only a practice run, but it feels so real! I shouldn't be looking! But I can't help it!'_

Asuna put her hands on Negi's cheeks and started to inched closer "oh sensei… I've wanted to do this for so long…"

Negi closed his eyes in anticipation for the meeting of his lips on hers.

Thane knuckles where white from gripping the edge of the wall so hard and was lightly muttering under his breath "come on… just a second more…"

"What are you doing Thane-sensei?"

Thane waved his hand behind him "Shhhhhh! It's getting to the good part!"

he suddenly realized that a voice had just asked him a question "…Oh shit."

Negi felt his cheeks get pinched "Huh?" Asuna was lightly blushing with a slight smile on her face "sucker."

Negi was highly confused "Huh? Uat?"

Asuna started to laugh and pull on his cheeks with more vigor "HA HA HA, you really thought I was going to kiss your runty little face! Ha Ha!"

Negi was flailing madly as she continued to pull his cheeks

"For a kid, you sure get worked up easy!"

Negi was desperately trying to talk "oh I Ont!"

Asuna was laughing and smiling at his predicament until the camera flashes disturbed her fun.

Both of them looked up and saw quite a few surprised faces, though the most surprised was Ayaka "A-A-Asuna-san…"

like magic, she was down the stairs with her hands on Asuna's blazer " what do you think you're doing!-? Leading a child on like that!-!"

Asuna was desperately trying to form some excuse "it's not what you think Iincho!"

"At least I do think! Unlike you!"

Asuna turned as far as she could in the iron grip to Negi "you-! I mean, Sensei! Say something to her!"

Negi had no Idea what to do in this situation.

Suddenly Ayaka let go of Asuna and pointed up at the stairs "and you Thane-sensei! Letting them continue on like that!"

both Negi and Asuna looked up the stairs at a very sheepish looking Thane

"Eh, sorry guys…"

Negi, finally having had his panic button pushed, suddenly grabbed his staff and pointed it into the air "lose your memories!"

both Thane and Asuna jumped forward to stop him "are you nuts?-! You wanna make everybody naked!-?"

A few of the girls tweeted at that "is that what he wants? Woohoo! Fast worker!"

Thane face palmed _'by the God's… I'm going to lose my mind before the end of the week…"_

**Xx about an hour later xX**

Thane was walking behind Both Yuna and Akira with a sigh escaping his lips.

Akira took a few steps back and patted him on the shoulder "Don't worry. Nobody will report him, I mean, they were just joking around… I think."

Thane gave her a melancholy look "I hope they don't. I can't help but feel that it was my fault…"

Akira gave a nervous laugh while Yuna smacked him on the back "ah, don't let it worry you! Come on, you should be happy! You're fixing to sleep in a room with two beautiful girls for the next three months!"

Thane gave her an annoyed look "and that cheers me up how?" though he said that, somewhere in his mind he was secretly whooping for joy at such a turn of events. The iron hammer known as a moral conscious quickly squashed it.

The rest of the trip to the dorms was a rather quiet one until they got to the room.

Thane nervously watched the other two enter first and take a shaky step forward. _'stay calm... you knew this moment was coming...'_

Yuna was tapping her foot in impatience before she finally had enough "Get in here!"

She grabbed him by the collar and dragged him through the doorway

"No! Wait! I'm not mentally prepared yet!"

"Good god! What are you? A girl? It's just a room! Plus, I'm not going to leave the front door open all night waiting for you to get in here!"

Yuna unceremoniously dropped him and jumped on the bottom of an in-wall bunk bed.

Thane got up and proceeds to dust himself off muttering under his breath "Heathen…"

He looks around the room and notices, a small dining table that sat in a depression in the floor, a fully equipped kitchen, and a writing desk that sat by the window with one or two pieces of furniture around the room.

He started to scratch his head "Where's the bathroom?"

Akira looked over at him "it's by the front entrance on your left."

Thane nodded his head and looked at the bed.

He continued to stare at it until Yuna noticed him "What's the matter? Oh, did you want to get in bed with me?"

She smiled and patted a spot next to her "go ahead, I don't mind"

Thane glared at her "you must be nuts if you think I'm getting in the same bed as you. I'd rather sleep with Akira-san if given the choice!"

It took him a moment to realize what he just said "wait! I didn't mean it like that!"

he looked over at Akira and saw a slight blush on her face while Yuna was laughing her head off, which caused a blush to appear on his own face

"ARGH! Screw it! I'm sleeping on the couch!"

Thane threw his bag at the foot of the couch and threw himself on it, burying his face into one of the pillows to try to get some sleep.

Yuna wiped a tear from her eye "aw come on, I'm sure she wouldn't mind either!"

the only response she got was Thane putting a pillow on top of his head to block her out.

Akira glanced over at her friend "Come on Yuna, enough with the teasing. He's had a tiring day"

Yuna sighed "Alright then…" She smiled apologetically at his back "Sorry Thane-sensei"

She didn't get a reaction, which caused them both to raise their eyebrows in curiosity.

Akira walked over next to the Pale youth "Thane-san?"

a silent snoring could be heard from under the pillow, which caused Akira to be shocked, but smile afterwards.

"He's asleep"

Yuna had a bewildered look on her face "Seriously? He must have been really tired. *sigh* No fun…"

Akira looked back at Thane and continued to smile.

Yuna noticed this and smiled herself "So… would you have let him?"

Akira looked over at her friend "let him what?"

Yuna wagged her finger at her "let him sleep with you if he didn't go to sleep on the couch"

Akira blushed but didn't answer.

Which caused Yuna to sit up in shock "You would have! Maaaaan! You are too kind for your own good Akira. Be careful, else I might start thinking you have a crush on him…"

Akira stuttered at that "I-I don't have a crush on him!" She went over to the kitchen and started to wash out the lunch boxes, a massive blush on her face as she did.

Yuna smiled at her friend and got up. She went to the closet and pulled out a blanket. She snapped it in the air and placed it on her sensei, a gentle smile on her face "Seriously, he's like my dad…"

* * *

><p>Ok! time for the announcement! Here's the thing, I'm going to be doing something different compared to other Fan-fic authors. Instead of releasing a chapter every time I get it done, I'm going to release a chapter based on how many reviews I get for the previous chapter. Now it won't be a high amount, only like two or three, but I find that it might just help me out a lot. this way, I have time to write the next chapter while people read my stories. But don't worry! I will release them anyway after a certain amount of time has passed! give or take a few weeks after completion! but it goes faster if you leave the reviews. Do tell me if you like it! tell me if the characters are to Ooc or if the personalities are like cardboard cut outs!<p>

and I think that's it for the time being!

alright, here's the amount of reviews I would like before I complete the next chapter! at least 2 more if at all possible!


	4. Chapter 4

Hello one and all to chapter 2 of Pale roots! For starters, I must apologize! I had this chapter done some time ago, but I didn't want to upload it until I had made a few more chapters! How many more do I have made you ask? Not as many as you might think... but enough about that! Lets get to the reading~!

and to you people who left reviews! I'm gonna try to respond to you as much as I can! so lets start off with...

Nightmares around winter: Thanks very much!

Leo247: Glad you like it! But all of those girls? Yikes... Slight spoiler! I only plan on about four girls to be his pactio partners!( of course, that's just an estimate, I may, at maximum, allow up to six girls, but no more then that) you have three of them listed, but the fourth one will be coming up soon! can you guess who they are?

and to the Anon: yes he does doesn't he? My plans for what happens next?... I'm thinking something along the lines of purple aliens... stop me if that doesn't work however...

From your friendly neighborhood junki!

* * *

><p>Negima<p>

Chapter 2: Rub-a-dub-dub strange love and a tub

"_Officer Yuna!"_

_ She stood at attention "yes Commander Thane Sir!"_

_ "This situation is looking bad soldier! I fear that one of us is going to need to die in order to bring an end to the cutie cutie Zombie Horde!"_

_ Yuna looked out at the swarming and incredibly slow pink zombie Horde "I see sir… but how are we going to do it?"_

_ Thane reached into his very small bag and, completely ignoring the laws of mass conversion, pulled out a massive glowing bomb "with this! The dues Ex Tamanator 56 billion! This thing will totally wipe out anything living and undead on a universal scale!"_

_ Yuna pulled the bomb from his Hands "I'll do it sir! I've always wanted to go out with a bang!"_

_ Thane salutes her "simply due to the very badly timed Pun, you will be given the honor of redeeming your humor by going out there and blowing yourself to hell! Now let me get into the only known safe house that will protect me from the explosion…"_

_ Thane closes the door and hears a mighty shout "Total annihilation!" The explosion that shook the foundations of the universe could not be felt in the very tiny room oddly enough._

_ Thane looks over and sees Akira sitting on a bed crying "Oh no! Thane! We are the only two humans left here in this world!" Thane holds her hands in his own "Do not worry dear! For we shall repopulate the world! Now gimme some sugar!" *Censored* *Censored* *Censored* * Censored*_

* * *

><p>Thane feels his eyes groggily begin to Open. He slowly sits up in the couch; still half conscious and very much confused<p>

_'what… the hell was that?'_

he shook his head to try to drag his consciousness fully to the surface and looked around the room. He saw that the room was still rather dark, _'must still be early then…'_ His question was answered when he looked at the glowing lights on Yuna's Alarm clock, 4:37 A.M. Thane stretched and yawned, pulling his feet off the couch and sitting in an upright position. Thane felt something slip off his body and he quickly grabbed it. It was a blanket he didn't remember having on. He stared at it in confusion

_'I don't remember putting this on when I went to sleep…'_

He glanced over at the bunk bed and smiled _'either Yuna or Akira must have done it… I'm thinking Akira, Yuna would have tried pulling something again.' _Thane lightly laughed and folded the blanket, placing it on the couch arm. He got up and looked around for a bit, trying to find something to do at such an early morning _'Classes won't start until 8… not really feeling tired or hungry either…'_

Thane suddenly thought back to his dream _'I must have eaten something funny yesterday… that or it was one of those stupid drinks that Yue recommended to me... but… I feel that Yuna would be somebody to go out like that in a blaze of glory… and what was that last little bit with Akira? Yeah, defiantly must have eaten something funny.'_

He Stretched his arms out and let them fall to his side lazily _'Well, guess I might as well go jogging… or… could I… maybe try something else…' _Thane walked over to the window and opened the curtains a crack, looking out at the empty campus. However, the lone familiar face he saw leave the dorm building made him smile inwardly _'nah… just jogging today…'_ Thane quickly walked to the door and put his shoes on.

**Xx Outside xX**

Setsuna Sakurazaki was doing her early morning stretches, a look of slight worry on her face _'I wasn't expecting this… I managed to avoid him yesterday thankfully, but I don't know how long I'll be able to do that… maybe I could ask him to act like he doesn't know me? No, that would be rather rude to him… plus, that would be rather awkward for us both and cause many misunderstandings… hum… no easy solution…' _Setsuna started to scratch her chin, deep in thought.

"what are you busy thinking about?"

"A way for Thane-san to not recognize me…"

Setsuna suddenly realized that another voice just spoke and quickly turned around, coming face to face with the subject of her thoughts

"Th-Thane! I mean Thane-sensei… Crap!"

Thane stood behind her with a look of confusion on his face "Sensei? How do you know I'm a teacher?"

Setsuna quickly started to flail about _'great! I just blew it myself! Wait! Maybe I can still salvage the situation!'_

"U-Um!... You see… uh… one of… my…friends! Yeah one of my frie-"

Thane lightly conked his right hand into his left, the little bit of the student roster he saw coming to mind "Oh yeah! Your student number fifteen in our class aren't you?"

Setsuna had tears falling down her eyes in quick defeat "y-yes…"

Thane gave her a smile but quickly started to think "wait… then why didn't you come to say 'Hi' yesterday?"

Setsuna could feel herself quickly falling from the frying pan directly into the Oven "Um… because… I… had something to do?" A weak excuse, even she could see that.

Thane raised his eyebrow in a questioning look "is that a statement or a question?"

Setsuna sighed _'might as well come clean…'_

"Thane-sensei-"

Thane held up his hand to stop her "Ah, You don't have to call me Sensei out of class. I personally like it when you just say my name without the honorific"

Setsuna slightly blushed from the thought, but continued "Thane, do you remember when I told you that I was guarding a particular person on the campus?"

Thane nodded his head. He remembered that, she would never tell him who it was though "yeah"

"Well, you see, I have to keep up a professional appearance when I am around her. I don't want any enemies to see me in a moment of weakness and take advantage of that to get to her, do you get what I'm saying?"

Thane nodded his head "yeah, but I don't think that Konoka has any enemies that would want to harm her does she?"

Setsuna took a few steps back in surprise "h-How did you know I was Guarding Ojou-sama?-!"

Thane gave her a surprised look "You follow her around like a stalker. Every time I see her, you're some odd amount of feet behind keeping an eye on her. Rather obvious really"

Setsuna was on all fours in defeat, _'was I really that obvious?...'_

She quickly got back up, this not really being the time for her to feel slightly depressed "a-anyway, Even though there are no enemies right now, that doesn't mean that I need to let myself get lax. So I would like to ask you to act like you don't know me when we are together in class."

Thane scratched the back of his head "Sure, I can do that, however…" he gave her a playful smile "In the early morning hours, or when it is just us, I want us to be the same as we are now. Friends, because I like being with my friends"

Setsuna was staring at him with her mouth lightly open "we-We're friends?"

Thane threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close "No duh Sherlock! And friends help each other out like this! Now come on! I wanna get the jogging done so I can get you to help me out! My sword swings are finally starting to feel a little less rusty…" Thane quickly dashed off, already heading toward the tree in eager delight.

Setsuna was watching him go, a light smile crossing her face "friends…" However, darker thoughts invaded her mind _'would he still be my friend if he knew what I was…?'_

"Hey hurry it up! I have a class to help teach, and you have to be there to listen!"

Setsuna shook her head and took off after him _'I'll think about it later...'_

**Xx 6:30 A.M xX**

Thane proceeded up the stairs, his legs heavy as lead and his muscles feeling rather tired, _'Geez, she was on fire today… was afraid she was going to break a bone with that thing… but I like that about her"_ Thane lightly smiled to himself as he marched the last steps and into the hall. He looked down the hall way and suddenly thought of something, _'what was the room number again? ...Shit…'_

Thane started to pace up and down the halls, looking for something, **anything,** that looked familiar. He decided to go for broke and simply knock on one of the doors, _'here goes nothing…'_

He stopped at a random door and proceeded to knock. The person who answered was not who he expected. A short girl with a slightly plump disposition stood there in her PJs rubbing the sleep from her eyes. When she saw him she suddenly looked wide awake and gave him a warm smile, "Ah, Thane-sensei, good Morning."

Thane was charmed by her smile and suddenly felt a little less tired "Ah, Good morning…huh…"

She gave a small laugh at his lack of recognition "Satsuki Yotsuba, seat number Thirty in class, how can I help you Sensei?"

Thane scratched the back of his head sheepishly from lack of remembering her name and his predicament, "I kinda forgot which room That Yuna-san and Akira-san where staying in."

She gave another warm smile that left him with even more warm and fuzzes "there room is number 628, just down the hall their on the left."

Thane gave her a small bow "Thank you Yotsuba-san. And I am sorry if I woke you up"

She shook her head gently "No problem at all. See you in class Sensei"

Thane stood outside her closed door for a moment longer with the warm feeling still in his chest _'she has a cute way of talking…'_ Thane walked down the hall and found his room. He sighed and, without even knocking, opened the door and walked right in and sat on the couch. What he saw next left him and everybody present stunned. From what he could see, Akira had just gotten out of the shower, and was standing across the room with her bare back to him, her hair loose and obscuring most of it while her head turned to stare at him in shock. Thanes first thought _'she has a nice body' _Thanes second thought _'HOLY SHIT!"_

Both of their faces turn a deep red color with the silence being broken by Akira screaming "Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!-!" She falls to her Knees covering her chest while Thane quickly slammed his hands to his eyes, "By the God's! I am so sorry Akira-san! I'll-"

"HIYA!"

***PING***

**"SWEET MERCY!-!"**

Thane felt a sharp impact on the back of his head, causing him to fall to the ground in a daze. He was face down on the floor when he heard the sound of his Assailant's voice , "Oh, it's only you Thane."

Thane looked up and saw two Yuna's staring down at him with frying pans. "Damn it Yuna! You didn't need to hit so hard! Both of ya! Wait… you didn't check to see what you were swinging at?"

Yuna shrugged her shoulders with some mild disinterest "I swing first, ask later."

Thane angrily muttered to himself and groggily got up to lay down on the couch, careful not to touch the tender spot on his head. After his head stopped swimming, he looked around the room and saw that Akira wasn't there "Hey, where's Akira-san?"

Yuna handed him an Icepack "In the bathroom getting dressed. The moment you turned away, she got her clothes and bolted down the hallway, oh and her face was really red too."

Thane placed the Icepack on the sore spot and sighed "great… just great…" he sat there for a moment longer until he noticed that Yuna was standing there... in her underwear.

He quickly covered his eyes "YUNA! What the hell are you doing!"

She was really confused at that statement "Uhhhhhhhhh… making sure your ok?"

Thane blindly pointed at her "I mean why the hell are you not wearing any clothes!"

Yuna looked down at herself and started to scratch the back of her head with a laugh "Oh, That! I had just gotten out of the bath myself when I heard Akira screaming." She noticed his blushing face and started to smile mischievously "what's wrong? Why do you have your eyes covered?"

Thane, still keeping his eyes covered, started to fume at her "You know damn well why!"

She posed in a sexy manner even though he couldn't see her "Could it be that you won't be able keep your eyes off me if you uncover them?"

Thane uncovers his eyes and gave her an angry glare "Put some clothes on before I strip the rest of them off!"

She was shocked for a moment, but started to act like a pure maiden "Oh my… can Sensei not hold back his male desires if this goes on for too much longer? Oh no… My maidenhood is in danger…"

Thane was sorely tempted to throw her out the window so that he wouldn't have to deal with her insanity, but simply settled with strangling the air in front of him.

Yuna was holding her stomach from laughing to hard " Ha ha! You are just too much fun to tease!"

Thane felt the blood rush to his cheeks and he turned away, not wanting her to see it as well. "ju-just put some clothes on already, you could catch a cold, and it's highly indecent."

Yuna's laughing slowly came to a halt "*phew* alright…" She walked over and lightly patted him on the back and went to get changed.

Thane sighed lightly to himself _'that girl is a handful… even more then Levy if I think about it…'_ Thane heard his stomach start to growl and looked over at the kitchen "Guess I better eat…" he looked over at the clock on the dresser to check how much time they had _'only 6:47, plenty of time to make something.'_ Thane walked over into the kitchen and opened the fridge, a small smile growing on his face.

Meanwhile, in the Bathroom, Akira was still red and had leaned up against the bathroom wall, her heart still racing from the earlier encounter _'h-h-h-h- He sa-saw me naked! Full body exposure! Why didn't he knock before he came in? Where was he anyway?-!' _She held her face in her hands, feeling the heat radiate onto her skin with an intense force. "I-I need to cool off first…" She stood up and went to the Sink, turning the cold tap all the way on in haste and plugged the sink. She watched the water flow out and started to let her thoughts flow with it _'did… did he really see my body though? My back was turned to him and he did cover his eyes as soon as he saw me… maybe… I'm over thinking things… maybe…'_

She watched the water flow for a second more before she turned it off and stared down into the water and at her reflection, her heart and body calming down upon seeing the cool liquid reflecting the light. She dipped her hands into it and stared into the small amount cupped in her hands _'better…'_ she continued to stare into the water, letting her thoughts drift away from her and into the liquid, an expression of bliss on her face.

Yuna suddenly walked into the bathroom and saw her friend standing full nude in front of the mirror looking all happy "What? Your breasts get bigger or something?" Akira didn't hear her and continued to stare at her cupped hands, which caused Yuna to scratch her chin, "great… her condition must be acting up again…" Yuna came over and lightly shook her, "Yo! Akira! ...*sigh*…"

Yuna dipped her hand in the icy cold water in the sink and flicked her fingers at Akira's face, the icy droplets causing her to flinch and come slowly back to attention

"…Huh?"

Yuna stared at her friend "You ok? I think your condition was acting up again"

Akira blinked her eyes a few time before she had begun to register what her friend had said "Oh…I'm fine now… thanks…"

Yuna eyed her friend in concern, "if you say so. But, man that is a strange condition, and why does it happen so sporadically? Oh well."

Akira shook her head again, bringing the last of her attention back into focus. The both of them got dressed and proceeded to start combing their hair until Akira started to smell something "*Sniff Sniff* Yuna…" She looked over at her friend, who was busy getting her hair back up into the side ponytail that she so enjoyed

"yeah?"

"Did you put something on the stove? Because I smell something cooking…"

Yuna looked back at her friend with an odd expression "No, I didn't."

Both girls look at each other and exit the bathroom. They get into the living room and see an amazing sight. Thane was standing over by the stove, the sound of something sizzling in the background. He was wearing a white apron and had taken his hair out of its usual ponytail, letting it fall on his neck and the side of his face, a smile just barely visible. Thane felt there looks on his back and turned to them "Oh hey, could one of you tell me where I can find the salt? This kitchen is confusing." Thane suddenly lit up and reached over on the counter "Never mind, I found it"

Yuna, who was still rather shocked, pointed at him "Thane? You can cook?"

The pale male started to shake small pinches of salt into the frying pan "Yeah, when you have three kids who would eat only junk for dinner, you learn, and fast. What? Did you think I couldn't or something?"

Yuna only looked at him in stunned silence. Thane looked over and crossed eyes with Akira, causing them both to remember the earlier incident and blush madly. Thane quickly went back to making breakfast with more energy than before. Yuna was smiling widely and sat down at the table "so you're really smart** and** can cook? My life just keeps getting better and better with you around! I better go ahead and stake my claim so nobody else takes you away!"

Thane looked at her with anger and embarrassment etched into his features "St-stupid! Don't say retarded stuff like that…" Yuna started to laugh again, not noticing the small amount of discomfort on both Akira's and Thanes faces. Thane gave a defeated sigh and went back to cooking _'this is gonna be a looooooong day…'_

**Xx 8:27 A.M. xX**

"we are going to be **so** late!"

Yuna, Akira, and Thane were making a mad dash to the school building, the impending time limit looming closer and closer. Yuna looked Back at Thane and started to rant, "This is your fault!"

Thane proceeded to yell back at her "My fault!-? I was making the lunch that sits in that bag of yours! And this is the Thanks I get!-?"

Yuna added a little more speed to her step "You didn't have to make it so damned meticulously!"

"and let you eat some unhealthy slop? Not on my watch sister!"

Akira dashed between them both "less fighting more running you two!"

The trio was quickly accompanied by many other such late comers, which also made a mad dash for the school building. With less than a minute left for the bell to toll, the three dash through the door, Thane breathing more heavily due to the fact that he had run four hours earlier. Akira looked at him with some concern, "are you alright Sensei? You seem really out of breath." Thane waved her question away "*pant* yeah… I- I'm fine…*pant* *wheeze* Just… did a lot of exercise this morning, that's all…"

Thane stood up, finally having caught his breath "You two go on ahead, I need to find Negi-Sensei" Both girls nod their heads in unison and Thane watches them quickly walk off. He also notices a certain red head accompanied by a chocolate haired girl walk out from behind one of the shoe lockers and quickly calls out to them, "Ah! Asuna-san, Konoka-san, is Negi-sensei with you?"

Asuna doesn't answer, instead she opts to point at the lockers a few rows down. Thane nods his head in thanks and walked to them. He turned the corner and saw Negi grumbling while trying to get to his shoe locker "stupid out-of-reach locker…"

Thane laughed internally at the little display and was about to help before the class representative reached out and helped him instead, "good morning Negi-Sensei, I'll walk with you to the classroom."

Thane could have sworn that he saw her glowing with a massive amount of flower petals coming off the girl. Negi sheepishly scratched his head "Th-Thank you"

"good morning Negi, Yukihiro-san"

Thane had walked over next to the boy and gave them both a smile. Ayaka bowed her head in greeting, "Good morning Thane-sensei."

Negi also bowed his head in greeting, "Good morning Thane-san"

Thane patted the boy on the back and started to walk with them, followed by Asuna and Konoka. "I trust that both of you slept well last night?" Ayaka was walking next to Negi and was looking back at Thane. Negi Nodded his head "Your… Ayaka Yukihiro. Iincho-san right? I slept well, thank you" Thane smiled at Him "getting their names down quickly I see. Good work."

" I have to, else I would get bogged down with just the greetings"

Thane lightly ruffled his hair "True, True. By the way Negi, would you mind if I looked at the class roster? And a copy of the lesson plans that you have for the week?" Negi pulled some papers and the Book that Shizuna had given him out from under his arm and handed it to Thane, "Sure, but what do you need them for?" Thane started to scan the Class roster "1, so I can also get to know the names of the students. And 2, so I can help you start making lesson plans for next week"

Ayaka stared at the pale youth with respect, "you are a very diligent assistant. Are you sure you're a recent graduate?" Thane looked at her with a coy smile, "recent graduate? Yes. Doing paper work? No"

Thane noticed a certain purple haired bookworm leaning out the classroom door and greeted her at the same time as Negi, "Good morning Miyazaki-san/ Nodoka-chan!"

She gave a nervous greeting in return and disappeared into the room. Negi was the first to enter the classroom which caused an Eraser to fall, though Ayaka caught it before it hit him. Thane saw one of the Twins snap her finger at her trap being defeated, and shook his head while smiling. After everybody was in there seats, Thane watched Nodoka stand up, "Teachers approach! Stand!" Everybody in the room stood up. "Attention!" Negi was holding his hand up in greeting, slightly confused by it all "Uh, Thank you…" Thane simply scratched his head in confusion _'what in Carotis is this all about?'_

"Bow!"

**"GOOD MORNING SENSEI!"**

Negi pulled his book out and gave a nervous smile "Uh, Good morning…"

"Be seated!"

The sound of chairs scratching the floor fills the room until there is silence once more. Thane saw Asuna hold her hand up to her mouth and whisper out something along the lines of 'relax' to Negi who also whispered something back. Negi stood up and grabbed one of the books he had and opened it up, grabbing a piece of chalk as well. "Let's pick up where we left off. Please turn to Page 76 in your texts."

Negi began to walk around the class " {The fall of Jason the flower. Spring came. Jason the Flower was born on the branch of a tall tree. Hundreds of flowers were born on the tree. They were all friends}"

_'I didn't do so well yesterday, so today, I have to give it my best'_

Thane was staring out at the classroom, seeing if anybody was diverting their attention, but he was only doing it instinctively. His thoughts were elsewhere _'Thirty seconds and no riots yet! Gotta be a record!'_

"Now who can I get to translate this passage in Japanese?"

Thane snapped back into focus. He saw the class try very hard to not catch Negi's attention, and where busy trying to find things to occupy their field of vision, like the floor, or the ceiling. The ones by the windows stared out onto the now empty campus grounds. Thane saw Asuna try very hard not to get his attention, even electing to spin a pencil to distract herself. Negi, however, didn't quite catch that signal.

"how about you Asuna-san?"

Thane saw everybody else in the room sigh in relief at not catching his attention, everybody except Asuna that is, "Wh-WHY ME!-?"

Negi was trying to shirk away from the angry girl "be-because…"

"because why?-! Normally you go by rows or dates!"

Negi held the book up, thinking that it might defend him "But Asuna, I thought you might like the opportunity…"

"what opportunity!-?"

Thane was trying not to laugh at them both, but not doing a very good job at it. Ayaka stood up, holding her hand to her chin in a royal manner "So you admit that the Material is too hard for you to understand? Allow me to do it for you Asuna."

Much to both Thane and Negi's surprise, Asuna let up on her anger, "Fi-Fine! I'll do it okay?" She held the book up and looked at it with intense concentration, which to Thane looked painful for her _'Nah, must be imagining it…'_

"Jason…fell off the top of a flower… spring arrived? Jason and a flower…um… ate brunch by tall tree… There were a hundred…bones…um… the bones… the trees"

There was a moment of silence " Ok… not bad… but not good either"

Thane watched as Negi put himself right in front of the firing line. Everybody in the room started to giggle and laugh, save for the fiery red head "Wah-!-?"

Misa spoke up "She's not very good at Math either"

"or literature"

"Science and History are a no go as well."

"about the only thing she **is** good at is P.E"

without thinking, Thane also put himself on the firing line "In other words, a Bonafide Idiot you mean"

She glared at Thane, who flinched from the fiery death glare. Though the only one in strangling distance was Negi, so she latched onto him. Thane knew how this was fixing to go down, so he proceeded to go over and prevent her from turning him into a smear on the floor.

"Ah-!"

The sound of a sneeze coming on put both Asuna and Thane on High alert.

_'aw snap! I hope I can make it in time!' _Thane quickly dashed over to stop him. Before Negi could sneeze, Thane grabbed him by the top of the head and twisted him right at Himself _'This has got to be the best idea I've ever had!'_

"**ACHOO!**"

The gale force sneeze that ensued blasted all of Thanes clothes away, everything except his blue boxers that is. _'Scratch that, this is the worst idea I've ever had!'_

Thankfully, everybody was not focused on him just yet. Most were still debating where the heck the mini-tornado came from. However, a nude male does not go unnoticed for very long. Ayaka quickly stood up and pointed at Thane, a huge blush on her face "Th-Thane-sensei! What are you doing!-?"

Everybody in the class had their attention drawn directly to him, which caused quite a few blushing faces and maybe one or two whistles at his well honed body, there may have been a cat call in there somewhere, but he wasn't paying attention to that. Thane did the first thing that came to mind, and that was to start flexing his muscles and posing "can't you tell Iincho-san? I'm posing for artistic nude. Quiet a deep subject you know…" everybody in the room started to laugh.

Asakura quickly got her camera out and started to take pictures. Haruna followed suite, only with more enthusiasm "Show off that build you sexy narcissistic bastard!"

Of course, that made **everything **better "yes! Takes those pictures! Chisel my magnificent figure into both your minds and technology! Plaster it for all to see and marvel at the Creature called a human male!"

poor Negi was confused and disgruntled, feeling both sorry for blowing his assistants cloths off and confused at the recent events. Asuna simply face palmed thinking the whole world has gone bat-shit crazy.

**Xx After class xX**

Thane was sitting outside on a bench with a hopeless look on his face and sighed in defeat _'well, this day wasn't the best day ever…I think poor Negi still feels rather guilty about the whole thing…'_ A light shimmering made it's self visible next to Thane and eventually formed into Sayo Aisaka, her face one of worry

"Are you ok Thane-sensei?"

Thane smiled at her though his eyes were still listless "from a physical standpoint, never better! From a mental one… my brain is completely fried… God's I hope I don't get fired from my job…"

Sayo held her hand up to her mouth, "Fi- Fired? Why would you get fired? You didn't do anything wrong!" Thane leaned his head back into the bench, "well, exposing myself to a bunch of underage girls isn't exactly something a teacher does you know, so that's kinda grounds for dismissal right there…"

Thane saw the ghost girl begin to panic, "I-It was a misunderstanding! They can't get rid of you because of one mistake! I-I'll go talk to the headmaster, or-or make a strike or…!"

Thane smiled warmly at Sayo and patted her on the head, "Oh you don't have to do that (not like you could anyway.) I don't think anybody in our class really cared about it that much… so I'm safe for the time being"

The look of relief on her face made Thane want to hug her, "Oh thank goodness… I don't know what I would have done if you had to leave…"

Thane patted her on the cheek "Even if I get fired, I won't leave the campus. I promised didn't I? I will be there for you whenever you need me Sayo-chan"

Sayo was blushing, but had a feeling of happiness welling up in her chest. Thane saw her unconsciously smile at him with that beautiful smile of hers, and he blushed. _'I Think that this is going to be the best part of my days from now on…'_

Thane leaned forward and fought past his embarrassment to give her a smile of his own "Your smile is really beautiful, has anybody ever told you that? It certainly makes me happy to see it"

Sayo was slightly taken aback by the sudden complement and started to blush again, "Th-thank you…" she started to lightly mumble, "I-if you… If you want… I can smi-"

Thane saw the Library Trio and called out to them, not hearing the Ghost girls words "hey you three! What's going on?"

Thane looked back and saw Sayo sitting in a depressed corner "You ok?"

"yeah…fine…" She shook her head and looked back at him _'I need to try harder! He's the first person to see me in sixty years! I can't let myself be weak willed!'_

Thane got up and walked over to the Trio, Sayo following close behind him. Yue was the first to greet him, "Hi there Thane-sensei" Haruna was busy doing something to Nodokas head and gave him a grunt in greeting.

Thane looked at the spectacle with some mild confusion and a lot of interest, "what are you three up to?" since Yue wasn't doing anything, she decided to answer his question, "we are working on getting Negi-sensei to notice Nodoka. So we decided to try to change her up a bit." Haruna jumped back a bit and examined her handy work, "What do ya think Thane?"

Thane looked at Nodoka, not sure what to expect. Haruna had tied the girls Hair into a very short side-ponytail, moving most of the girl's hair to the side, revealing a good bit of Nodoka's face. Thane started to scratch his Chin, "it looks good… but…"

"But... but What? Spit it out man!"

Thane was silent for a moment longer, "It borders on unusual. I'm not really bothered by it since I know her a little better, but Negi hasn't had a lot of interaction with her, so he may think it looks odd. Here let me try something…"

before Nodoka could protest, Thane reached down and started to mess with her hair a bit. After a few more seconds, he stood back and looked at her. he had changed her hair back to the way it was, with only a small alteration. He had moved the bangs around a bit to reveal more of her eyes.

"There! Now what do you think?"

Haruna started to scratch her chin, "Simple, yet cute… I think I like it!"

Yue nodded her head as well, "very cute."

Nodoka was starting to blush from the praise which caused Thane to pat her on the back, "he'll like it, I know it, cause I sure do!"

Sayo, though unnoticed by most everybody except Thane, hovered around the bookworm, "It really is cute…"

Thane grabbed Nodoka and started to pull her, who in turn, started to flail madly, "let's go show Negi!" After a few minutes of searching and forced kidnapping, Thane saw him sitting off by a statue with a depressed look on his face _'There he is! This cutie should defiantly cheer his day up!'_ Thane let go of her and Pointed at the young boy, "There's your target! Now seek and destroy! Fight!" Thane threw his arm in the air in excitement.

Nodoka imitated him; though very weakly, "F-fight…"

Thane watched her start to walk over, very slowly, with no rush in her step at all.

Thane, Yue, and Haruna watched her for a full minute before anybody said anything, "I think she's gonna need back up…"

"yeah"

"defiantly."

Thane pushed the other two out after her, "So go back her up!" He watched the other two push the shy girl towards Negi, who finally noticed them. Thane was too far away to hear anything, but as far as he could see, the exchange was going well enough. That is until Yue and Haruna moved up and moved all her hair out of her face and say something about her having a cute face. Nodoka quickly ran away right past Thane who was laughing nervously _'well… it's a start…'_ Haruna ran right past while calling out. Yue was the only one to stop, "sorry about that Sensei, and Thank you for helping out" She quickly dashed off after the speck that was Nodoka.

Thane looked at Sayo and shrugged his shoulders, she merely giggled back. He then turned toward Negi and waved at him. Negi dejectedly waved back at him _'yeah, this morning must still be bugging him…'_ Thane walked over and sat down next to Negi, "hey! How you doing Negi? Haven't seen you for thirty minutes! Anything interesting happen in that time? Like a vampire come to drink your blood or a time traveler give you a Time traveling device?"

Negi looked at him with some confusion, "Um… no"

Thane however was looking away with a sense of impending doom and a strange expression on his face _'funny…felt like I just predicted the future…' _

He shook his head and went back to smiling, "well that's cool too! So what's bugging you?"

Negi looked at him with a fake smile, "Oh, nothing is wrong. Why would you think that?"

Thane stared blankly at him for a moment before he put him in a headlock and started to furiously give him a noogie, "Don't you lie to me ya little runt! This morning is still bugging you, isn't it?"

Negi was desperately trying to get out of the head lock with no avail "YES! YES! NOW PLEASE STOP! I THINK MY SCALP IS SMOKING!"

Thane let go of him and crossed his arms in annoyance "like I said yesterday Negi, don't blame yourself for every little thing that goes wrong. You simply jump over the little details in the road of life."

Negi gave him a weak smile, "Thanks…"

Thane could hear that he wasn't convinced and started to think _'damn… kid needs a real morale booster to get him out of this one… I got it!'_ Thane jumped up, "alright then Negi! We're going to prove that you don't suck at this! so I suggest that we help somebody! Do you have anybody in mind?"

Negi held up his hand, "No, it's fine, really."

Thane ignored him and continued talking, "Nobody comes to mind? Hum… I got it! Asuna! Let's make that love potion for her! Then she'll stop calling you a twerp and accept you as a great mage in training!"

Negi nervously laughed, "I don't know abou-"

Thane grabbed the boy by the head and started to grind his temples with his knuckles "AIEEEEEEEE!"

"Stop being such a wimp!"

In a furious attempt to get away, Negi started to struggle, causing Thane to accidently kick Negi's bag in an attempt to keep up the punishment, forcing a small glass vile to fall out of it. Thane stops grinding Negi's head and picks it up, "what's this?" Negi was rubbing his temples before he suddenly lights up in recognition. He takes it from his grasp with an excited expression on his face "Th-This is the seven colored magical pills my grandfather gave me years ago! Anya Or My sister must have slipped them into my bag!" Thane scratched his head _'he has a sister?'_

"so what does that mean?"

Negi looked over at Thane with a huge amount of enthusiasm coming from his little person, "It means that we could almost 100% make that love potion!" Thane was scratching is chin nervously, "You sure about that?" Negi gave him a beaming smile, "Positive!"

Thane merely shrugged _'I'll follow his judgment on this one, though that "for adult use only" Tag is really making me nervous…'_ Negi stopped for a moment, thinking back on what Asuna had told him this morning _'I'll make it happen on my own'_

"I don't know if this will allow her to accept or forgive me… but it's the only thing I can do for now…"

Thane was slightly confused by that but didn't say anything. Negi got out a few laboratory odd items and added the whole contents of the vial into some magical chemical of some sort. Thane was lightly scratching his head, "Uh… are you sure you should be adding the whole thi-"

Negi had already started and was deaf to Thanes words "_Ras Tel Ma scir magister… Age Nascatur Potion Amoris!"_

The slight explosion of magic caused Thane to hold his hand up to shield his face. When it finally had died down, Negi already had it in his hands, a look of achievement on his face, "I… I did it!" Thane tapped him on the shoulder, "Are you sure it's going to work though? We haven't even tested it yet"

Negi looked up at him with a beaming confidence, "I Know it'll work! Let's get this to Asuna pronto!" Negi began to dash off, but was stopped when Thane grabbed him by his collar, "Now hooooold on their Negi, lets test it first. Make sure it doesn't have any adverse side effects. Last thing we need is for her to grow things that shouldn't be there"

Negi started to pout, "Bu-But I know it'll wo-"

Thane quickly nabbed it from him and poured just a minuscule amount into the palm of his hand, "I'm not doubting you Negi, I just wanna check for myself, that's all. Just humor me on this."

Negi still looked like he wanted to say something, but let him continue. Thane gave him a smile and sipped the small amount in his hand. They waited for a minute, Negi's face looking at him with expectancy "Is it working?" Thane looked around for a moment, "I don't know, no girl's he-" Thane stopped when he saw Sayo looking at him with dreamy eyes,

"Oh Thane-sensei… has anybody told you how much of a stud you are?"

_'ohhhhhhhhhhhh shit... that's not good...' _Thane's mouth was hanging wide open in shock and horror. Negi was confused by his expression, "What's wrong? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine… It works by the way" he quickly handed it back, taking a few steps back from the slowly approaching Sayo _'I didn't think it would have such a powerful affect!'_ he tried to dash off, but Sayo pounced on him, her cheeks rubbing his own, "Oh sensei… touch me more! Let me feel you so that I can return my love for you!"

Thane saw Negi run off with an excited look on his face. Thane reached out to try to stop him, "Don't do it Negi! It's too powerful! I need to seal it!" _'why the hell did I give it back to him in the first place!-?_'

Sayo, however, was not letting up and grabbed his face, looking into his eyes with a dreamy expression on her face, "Thane… can I call you that? Let me feel the warmth of your lips…"

Thane quickly started to try to push her away, "No Sayo-chan! You don't wanna do this!"

She was proving stronger then he thought possible from a spirit and continued to inch closer, "I don't?... No... I do. But I don't want just a kiss, now that I think about it…" She moved down and started to undo her old school uniform, which caused Thane to recoil in horror.

_'OH. MEH. GAWD! scratch what I said earlier! It's not powerful, it's downright dangerous!'_ Thane grabbed her hands to stop her, "Sayo! You are under the affect of a strange drug that somehow got into the possession of a ten-year old! Snap out of it girl!"

She grabbed his hands and looked up at him, the Beautiful smile that she had beaming at him. He almost lost control right there.

_'no choice!'_

Thane pulled her close into an embrace, which made her giddy and embrace him back "I knew you loved me back sense-"

***whack!***

A Karate chop to the back of her neck knocked her out before she could complete her sentence. Thane saw her slump to the ground in a heap, and held his hand up in apology "Sorry Sayo-chan, Looks like that lesson in pain came earlier then I wanted."

He pulled her off and gently laid her down on the ground, apologizing multiple times as he did. After making sure she was alright, he quickly dashed in the direction that Negi did _'aw man… this all my fault… I pushed him to make the stupid potion. And knowing how Asuna is, she never is going to drink the stupid thing. More likely scenario is she forces it down his throat…'_

He actually had to stop and think about that for a second. _'you know... that probably is what happened... shit...' _Thane dashed through the halls_, _trying to find Negi before it was too late.

"Negi-sensei!"

Thane stopped upon hearing the familiar voice "Nodoka-chan? That sounded close!" he quickly dashed down the hall until he saw Asuna trying to force a door open.

"Gah! It's locked!"

"Asuna-san!"

Asuna turned and Saw her pale sensei running at her "Is Negi and Nodoka-chan in there?"

Asuna nodded her head "Yeah! But I can't get this damn door open!"

"Stand back!"

Asuna quickly jumped back, while Thane held his fist up and started to concentrate his Chi "HIYA!" he pulled his arm back and punched a hole right through the door "hell yeah!"

Asuna started to yell at him "We wanted it off! not a hole through it! Outta the way!"

Thane looked at her and quickly jumped back, the look of fire scaring him, oh, and the flying high kick too. The impact busts the door right off its hinges and sent it flying across the room, where Negi pushed a highly horny Nodoka away and deflected it with a wind barrier. After checking to see if she was still **alive** (thankfully, she was only Knocked out) Negi started to flail his arms wildly "As-Asuna! You could have killed somebody!"

"so- Sorry!"

Thane, however, was looking at Asuna with his mouth hanging open "Asuna."

She looked back at him "What?"

"you do realize these doors don't open inward right?"

She scratched her head in confusion, as if he just told her something in gibberish "what's your point?"

Thane looked at the door half-way across the room and back to the ripped out door frame that was hanging precariously from a few splinters and drywall tape "…Nothing…"_  
><em>

**Xx Later xX**

After checking to see if anybody needed medical attention, Thane went to check and see how Sayo was, but by the time he had gone back, she was already gone. So Thane simply thought she had gone back to the classroom. He sighed and sat down on the bench _'can't say that it fixed Negi's problem, but its one thing out of the way… I still need to go visit McDowell and then try to apologize to Akira for this morning.'_ He held his hand up and counted the number of problems he had and sighed "I better get To McDowell-sans place first. She seems like the sort to bite my head off if I was late." Thane got up and started to walk towards the dorms feeling rather tired from the day.

**Xx a little bit later at the dorms xX**

Thane was walking down the dorm steps fuming _'what do ya mean they don't live at the damned dorms?-!'_ He had gone to every door on the 5th and 6th floors and everybody had told him the same thing.

Evangeline and Chachamaru don't live in the registered housing area.

Thankfully, Hakase (student number 24) had told him that they live in a cottage in the woods just outside the campus grounds. "Guess she likes her privacy… Rather A-typical of a vampire" After twenty minutes of wandering, Thane finally found the woods he was looking for.

Much to his surprise, he also saw a green haired student going into them as well and recognized her "Ah! Karakuri-san! Hold up!"

Chachamaru looked over at the pale youth with her expressionless face and bowed "good evening Thane-sensei. I believe that you have come for the appointment with My Master then?"

Thane noticed the lack of emotion in the girl's voice, but didn't ask about it "yes I am. is she here?"

Chachamaru nodded her head "yes, she is. I will take you to her if you so wish"

Thane nodded his head and gave her a smile "that would be nice, yes please"

Thane followed the girl to the cottage he heard about and whistled "Nice place she has here, though I was kinda expecting a castle for a vampire."

"She has a castle"

Thane looked at her in surprise "really? I'm guessing not here though"

"It's here"

Thane did a double take and started to look around "where?-!"

Chachamaru nodded her head at the cabin "Inside the house in the basement"

Thane gave her a long blank stare "… you're making fun of me, aren't you?"

Chachamaru simply stared at him, no hint of humor or sarcasm in her features "I speak only the truth. Ah, here we are." She opened the door and motioned for him to go first.

Thane walked through the door and was surprised by the sight of all the stuffed dolls arranged in an elegant fashion throughout the house. Though some of them looked cursed, and when he got a better look at some of them, downright creepy.

"About time you came back Chachamaru! I was starting to get hungry!" Thane saw the small blond vampire walking down the stairs in a simple black night dress.

Thane cocked his head to the side and smiled at her "Katamesimero (High Noon) Evangeline-san"

She stopped in her tracks, a small look of slight annoyance etched in her face "Again with the strange language! You have a lot of explaining to do Thane Mastizetai!"

Thane bowed to her "very well then. But is it not common courtesy to invite your guest to sit and to drink upon the abode?"

Eva's eyebrow slightly coked upward in some small amount of amusement "Humph, it would appear that you are trying to act the part of a Gentleman of some sort. Very well, Chachamaru! Get tea ready!"

as The Gynoid went about her task, Thane sat down on one of the few empty chairs and saw Eva do the same, though in a less then lady like manner "Alright, start talking. I managed to get some things out of that old Gourd for brains of a headmaster. But it was only the bare raw facts. I want the juicy fat of the details."

Thane chuckled to himself "alright then, let's play twenty questions shall we? But I would also like some answers as well, though you may dislike the questions"

Eva scoffed at him "Fine, I'll start then. What is Estoria?"

Thane began his explanation "Right to the point then... Estoria is a land filled with magic, High Dragons, Technology of many sorts. Psychic orders, vampires, werewolves, mermaids, Elder God's, Eldritch Abominations, Nightmarish horrors, and damn near anything else I happened to read in this world's fantasy Books and novels"

Eva raised her eyebrows in interest "So it's technically like Mundus Magicus? Interesting… Though not as much as I was hoping. Next question, How did you know That I was a vampire?"

Thane saw Chachamaru approach and took the tea from her "Thank you. How? Easy, I have a friend back in Estoria who is just like you. A vampire with a considerable amount of power hidden away. I could see it in your eyes when I saw you, the amount of power that you wield."

Eva felt a little flattered, and started to get just a little puffed up "you could tell? But of course! Even strangers to this world would feel my power! Ha ha!" Thane saw her put one foot on the table and put one hand under her Chin and laugh royally. Chachamaru Picked her up and set her back in her chair, much to the vampire's annoyance.

"anyway… who is this vampire that you speak of? A doddering old man Filled with his own delusions of grandeur?"

Thane lifted his eyebrow in amusement "**Her** name is Queen Mary Vannyle de Granz, ruler of the land of Naxator for nearly 2000 years since she ascended its dark Ruins, About the 5th most powerful being in all of Estoria, and the last of the Void Vampires, so I would ask you to show a little more respect please."

Eva sat back in her chair, feeling impressed with this person, if not just a dash humbled "I…see. Well then, my next question. What is the Blood greeting you were talking about yesterday? And what is that odd language you were using as well?"

Thane sat back and sipped his tea "the blood greeting is just that, a greeting between vampires. The language, however is called _Logia Ton Nekron_ or Words of the Dead."

Eva started to fidget in her seat, The name causing her to remember when she was first turned " Why does that name cause me to…"

Thane finished her sentence "To remember your turning? Because the language is even older than that, so it tends to drag out memories of when you died as a human. Though I am a little surprised to see that it affects you at all considering the fact that you're a world away"

Eva sat back in her chair, taking it all in, her tea forgotten. Thane watched her in silence for a few minutes "So, does this answer your questions?" she looked back at him "All but one."

"Go ahead and shoot, I'll answer to the best of my ability"

She sat back in her chair appropriately, a deadly serious look on her face "What are you?"

Of all the questions he had expected her to ask, that wasn't one of them "… excuse me?"

She looked annoyed "I don't like to repeat my questions, but I will do it anyway. What. Are you?"

Thane stared at her with a vacant expression "I'm Thane Mastizetai. That's it, full blown Human extraordinaire!"

Eva gave him a look that wasn't friendly "so you will avoid my question huh? No matter, I don't really care anyway for what you may be…"

Thane smiled at her "If you say so… now for my questions!"

Eva simply rolled her eyes "woo-hoo...great…"

Thane leaned forward "When were you turned?" a very bold first question from him, which earned him a very angry glare from her "I don't remember asking you that kind of question!"

Thane sat back "I believe that we agreed to answer my questions after I answered yours?"

she fell back in her chair, more out of annoyance of his true statement then the actual question "fine! Though I'll have you know that it is a very rude question to ask for a woman's age in this world" she sat back and closed her eyes in thought "let's see… During the one hundred years war in France."

Thane scratched his chin "so I take it your nearly 800 years old then?" She scowled at him "You clearly have a hearing problem if you failed to notice what I said not but 20 seconds ago"

he shrugged his shoulders "Fair enough. Now, I find this really odd for a Vampire like you. But why are you here in this school? I would think you would be playing the Political game in government and taking it over from the inside out. That or sleeping"

Eva started to grit her teeth, hateful memories resurfacing "Oh how I would love to be doing something of either choice. But I'm stuck here! Forced to stay in this ditzy school girl hell, constantly hearing the same boring shit over and over for the past Fifteen years Thanks to that man! Yes, that man… I would skin him alive and pike his head outside my door and laugh at it every time I walked through my yard if I could get my hands on him!" She was pretty much ranting in anger now, which caused Thane to scoot his chair back a few feet in case she decided to put **his** head on a pike

_'Touchy subject I'm guessing…'_

Thane waited for her to calm down before he proceeded with his questions "so you're being kept here? How?" She practically threw herself into her chair and gave him a sour look "A magical seal that restricts my powers as both a vampire and a mage. I've been working on breaking it for years, but I haven't solved it yet…"

Thane stared at her for a moment, his chin screwing up in serious thought "… let me try something here…" before she could ask him what, he had reached into his bag and pulled out a small metallic sphere with two multi color gems embedded into it. He pressed on one of the gems, causing the whole thing to light up "retrieve Item 05534, named 'Eye of Havrad' " The small sphere started to glow and a small item began to form in the Pillar of light until a small crystal that looked like a snakes eye was visible. Thane snatched it from the air and placed it in the palm of his hand, a look of confusion On Eva's face.

"What is That? And what do you plan on doing with it?"

Thane held it up and let Eva Examine it "This is a magical artifact Known as the Eye of Havrad, named after the Serpent of the legend."

Eva was intrigued "Oh?"

Thane smiled at her "Interested in the legend?"

Eva wasn't about to say it out loud, but she was intrigued. She rarely got to read anything interesting anymore. However, it must have shown on her face, because he leaned further into his chair and started to ponder, placing the Spherical object on the table.

"Fine then, I see no harm in it. Let me see… Havrad was the trickster god of Snakes. His tongue could weave a lie and make it seem truth, while his eyes could see through any deception so that he could never be deceived. Now Havrad would have his fun with mortals, turning loving families into bitter enemies, making kings execute his own people in fear of them turning traitor and on and on. now he eventually grew bored with deceiving Humans and turned his eyes towards tricking gods. For what greater joy is there then to deceive those who hold real power?"

Eva sat back with a sinister smile "A dangerous gambit, and yet, it makes success all that much sweeter..."

Thane smiled inwardly " The god he sought to trick was Terrathrax, master of the earth and keeper of the Gods Forge. Havrad whispered into the God's ear one night and told him that the High Dragon's held a rare and powerful ore known as Star Metal. Now Terrathrax was master of the earth and any new metals or ores found belonged to him, such was the pact he had with his subjects The High Dragons. The God was outraged that his Subjects would keep this from him, and caused the Dragons ancient home of Trimitra to erupt into gouts of magma and fire in his rage."

Thane wasn't aware of it, but Chachamaru had stopped what she was doing and was listening in on them.

"The Dragons begged with Terrathrax and asked him what they had done to receive his ire. Upon hearing the Dragons Cry's for mercy, Terrathrax Knew he had been deceived and sought to Hunt the serpent down and skin him alive for the wrong committed on him. But the snake was too cunning and managed to keep away from him. So Terrathrax devised for a way to beat the Trickster god at his own game." Eva lightly huffed "Hum… I want to hear this…"

"Terrathrax had spread through the world that he had found a book of secrets that could reveal the fates of all things, mortal and God. Havrad heard this from the mouth of another and sought this book out. What fun he would have if he could see the fates of Mortals and Gods! He entered the hall of the Earth God and found the book, but he could see that the book was a lie! It could not see such fates! He had been tricked because others believed the story true and had not heard it from the source! Terrathrax Caught the Serpent and took out his eyes and cut out his tongue and skinned the god in punishment, giving the scales to The High Dragons in Apology. Such is the tale of the Snake God Havrad"

Eva sat there with a grin on her face "what an interesting story! So The snake couldn't match the earth Huh? But what does it have to do with that crystal?"

Thane held it up and grinned at her "_'the eye of the Trickster will not be deceived' _" the small crystal suddenly flashed a brilliant green light causing Eva to cover her eyes and Chachamaru to reboot her Visual sensors. When Eva finally opened her eyes, she saw glowing runes around her body floating with many more in the air

"Wh-What is this?"

Thane was looking at the floating symbols and scratching his Chin "Well you sure weren't kidding when you said it was complex!"

Eva turned her head to him "Wait! This is the seal placed on me?"

Thane moved his hand at a symbol and watched as it floated away lazily "correct, but now that I look at it, I may be able to do something about it." Eva wasn't sure she had heard him right "Huh?"

Thane moved his hands around a little bit, causing the Symbols to dash about back and forth between his fingers "yeah… Maybe not as Hard as I first thought… could probably get it off real soon…"

"Really?-! How soon?"

Thane held his hand up. as if doing so would curb her enthusiasm "hang on their Evangeline-san! This is going to take a little study, I don't want to screw something up because I rushed. But If given Time, I may be able to remove it if I study it properly." The look of joy in her eyes made Thane feel happy himself. He finished the last of his tea and looked at the clock "Wow! 6:48! I really should head on back, But I'll come back In a few days after I have done some research on the Seal itself."

She was smiling at first, but then she had a look of suspicion "Wait… why do you want to help me? what do you hope to get out of this?"

Thane blinked a few times, but then he felt rather hurt by her suspicion "wh-! I only do this because I want to help you out, why are you suddenly suspicious?"

Eva looked him over for a moment, thinking about what he just said, and eventually found that she was just being silly and sighed "A lifetime of paranoia does that to you. But I honestly can't remember the last time somebody just wanted to help me out."

Thane shrugged his shoulders "I can understand that. Mary herself is a lot like that." Thane gave her a polite bow "I'll see you in a few days, and maybe I'll have a solution to your problem." He started to head for the door before he stopped which caught Eva's attention, "what is it?"

"You know… I told you a story from my home, would it be alright with you if you told me a story from this world when next we meet?"

Eva gave him a less then threatening scowl "What do I look like? A nanny?... but… maybe stories of the Dark Evangel would be a better topic?"

Thane laughed inwardly at her pride "Very well Then! We shall exchange stories when next we meet!" And with That, Thane gave one more low Bow and left.

**Xx A little later xX**

Thane walked up to the room he shared and, having learned his lesson from this morning, knocked. The door opened to reveal Yuna still in her sports jersey "Oh! Hey Thane! Was wondering where you got to!" Thane scratched the back of his head "sorry about that. Had something to do. Is it safe for me to come in?" Yuna was confused by his question for a second before she finally understood "Oh! Yeah, it's fine. Akira's not even home yet. Something about everybody testing their lap times."

"Ah, I see" Thane walked in and sat on the couch, letting a sigh of relief escape his lips _'I know I shouldn't be happy about her not being here, but I really do need to give her a proper apology for this morning…'_ he suddenly felt something poking his right cheek and saw Yuna smiling at him "What's with the Sigh Sensei? Having some girl troubles?"

Thane glowered at her "I'm a teacher, I can't afford to have _'girl troubles' _I'd get in deep trouble for it"

Yuna sat on the lower bunk across from him "really? Too bad for you then, cause there are a lot of girls in our class without Boyfriends… just saying…" She couldn't hide her giggling when she saw his blushing face

"Oh why do I suffer from this every day?" he said to nobody in particular.

"Oh come on! Admit it! You would be a rather drab guy if I didn't try to tease you every once in a while. I'm adding Energy to your life!"

Thane lightly threw a pillow at her and missed "Energy? It takes all my energy to put up with ya! I'll be an old man by the end of the semester from all the insanity that goes on around here!"

Yuna shrugged her shoulders " well, Asuna-san might like you then."

Thane got up and started to chase her around the room "you never learn!" she was cackling madly, just keeping out of his reach. The two finally ran out of Stamina and collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"da-damn it!... I'll *Pant* I'll catch you… one of these days!"

Yuna waved her hand weakly "Ha… ha… yeah right! You're talking to one of the fastest basketball runners on the team!"

Thane sat up and helped her up as well, both of them sitting in their respective places. The two were quite for a few minutes before Thane noticed an odd odor coming from himself "*Sniff Sniff* ugh… I smell like an unwashed Wojack…" Yuna sat up and smiled " a what?... wait, never mind. You may want to take a bath then, follow me!" She quickly jumped up and grabbed his arm, dragging him from the couch.

"he- hey wait! The bathrooms right there! I don't need help getting to it!"

Yuna wagged her finger at him while keeping him in a tight grip "Tsk, Tsk Thane. Where would be the fun in having a normal bath in here? I'm going to show you something pretty incredible!"

before he could ask what, she yanked him forward as she started to dash out into the hall and down the stairs. After a few flights of stairs and long hallways of being dragged against his will later, Thane was standing outside a door that had a big sign that read **'Suzukaze'** She finally let him go and stood in front of the doors with a big grin on her face " Welcome to the pride of our dorm! The Giant bath Suzukaze!"

Thane scratched his head "You guys have a giant bath?"

"sure do! Now you go on ahead and go in while I go and get you some spare clothes!"

quick as a flash, she was already gone before he could say anything to her. Thane looked at the place she had been standing for a moment longer before he shrugs his shoulders "Oh well, Might as well bathe while I'm here…" he entered and saw that there were some baskets to place his clothes and items. Thane got undressed, Folding his clothes as he took them off until he was fully exposed. He placed the small pouch of eggs along with his pocket watch on top and grabbed a towel, but before he went into the bath, his face lit up in remembrance "Oh yeah…" he reached back behind his head and undid his pony-tail, holding a small Platinum hair ring with a skull shaped ruby embedded into it. He turned it over in his hands a few times and smiled at it

"Eh he he… Mary always did have a strange sense of aesthetics…"

he placed the ring with his other Items and went through the curtain. The first thing he did was whistle "***Tweet***Ho-ly crap… this thing is huge!" The first thing that had caught his attention was simply the number of bathes. At least five or six, each that seemed to have a different purpose that he couldn't even begin to imagine. The plant foliage was a nice addition as well.

He stared for a few more minutes before he shook his head "Focus, focus… I can admire it later." Thane proceeded over to the shower portion and got to the washing. After a few more minutes of repeated scrubbing and rinsing of his body, Thane got into the bath that he assumed was the one he soaked in and relaxed. He leaned his back against the bath wall and stared up at the ceiling lost in thought "I wish Levy, Dark and Troy were awake… they would love this…"

_'but of course I still need to complete certain rituals first… plus a few magical reagents… I wonder if Evangeline could point me in the right direction…'_

"No! please!"

"Fairs fair Brat! You've seen me naked! Plus, you're only Ten!"

The sounds of scuffling and angry/scared voices brought Thane out of his dreamy state _'those voices sound familiar…' _Thane turned around and saw Asuna charging forward with a nude Negi in her grasp.

"Now get in there!" She chucked him forward before he could protest.

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Thane watched as Negi was sent airborne and try to flap his arms in hopes to fly away from the bath. Unfortunately, man was not designed to fly and the impact sent waves of water crashing around. Thane was laughing at the whole spectacle until he saw Negi poke his head out of the water muttering to himself

"and I'm her teacher to… Thane?"

said person raised his hand in greeting "Yo Negi!"

Asuna jumped into the bath and saw him as well "Thane-sensei? What are you doing in here?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "I was just going to take a bath in the dorm room, But Yuna dragged me here saying she wanted to show me the Dorms crowning jewel or something along those lines."

Negi was slightly confused before he started to look around, the gasp of surprise audible for everybody to hear "Wha- What is this? Look at the size of it!"

Asuna grabbed a bar of soap and a towel and walked over "Like Thane-sensei said, This is the pride of the dorms, our Giant bath. You have to fit at least A hundred people in here at a time sometimes, and it would suck if we didn't have the room for it. Now get washing."

Negi was standing in awe "Wow… I saw something like this in a book once, but seeing it close up is something else entirely!" Thane leaned back and smiled at Negi "yeah, that was my first reaction as well. We had something similar back in Estoria, only it was an outdoor bath. Spring of the Dryads it was called, said to increase youthfulness and vitality for those who stayed in long enough. Popular tourist spot in The land of Faire."

Negi looked over at him "Sounds amazing!"

he Then saw Asuna walking over to him with a bar of soap in one hand and a towel in the other, a wicked smile on her face "Noo-oow then… let's get this little puppy all cleaned up"

Negi's face lost its cheerfulness quickly, replaced with a look of desperate cuteness. He took off running "AIEEE!" Asuna quickly gave chase "GET BACK HERE!"

Thane laughed at them both and watched her chase the Auburn haired boy around for a few minutes. He was proving to be quiet the slippery little eel, Because every time Asuna had him in her hands, Negi would simply add more speed, causing her to put out even more of her own strength to try to keep up. _'the way he avoids baths, you'd think it was the plague' _after a few more minutes of watching the little chase, Thane finally decided to help. He stood up and just as Negi passed him, put his foot out, tripping the boy up. Before Negi could recover, Thane was on him and had the boy held up by his arms

"TRAITOR!"

Thane simply smiled at the kicking Kid "Part of my job is to help you out, whether you like it or not"

Negi was desperately trying to escape, but the older boy was too strong for him "That should only apply to the Teaching!"

Thane shrugged his shoulders and handed him off to Asuna "So I bent the rules a little. Sue me."

the pitiful look that he gave him as Asuna carried the lad away almost made him regret doing it.

Almost.

"Sorry Negi, it's for your own good…" Thane sat back down and let the waters sooth him back into relaxation. Of course, the talking voice of Asuna caught his attention. "man… can't even wash your own hair. Are you sure you're really ten?"

Thane turned around and put his arms on the walk, letting his chin rest comfortably as he watched the little scene _' kinda like a brother and his older sister…'_

"Well, I will be on my tenth year…"

Both Asuna and Thane were surprised at that, however Asuna quickly flew into a rage and started to wash his hair savagely "meaning your really **Nine!-?** Dammit! I'm a frikken babysitter!"

Negi was trying to escape but Asuna held him down with both her hands and her dangerous aura "AGGHHH! What'd my scalp ever do to you people!-? YOUR TEARING IT OFF!-!-!"

Thane, ignoring Negi's plight, started to scratch his Chin "Only Nine and you're a teacher? You've got a hell of a lot guts for this don't ya?"

Negi couldn't hear him however until Asuna finally calmed down, though she huffed angrily "geez… I gotta get up early to deliver papers tomorrow, so you better be grateful that I'm taking the time to do this for you!"

Negi simply sigh out an 'Ok' while Thane latched onto that piece of Info. Though Negi asked about it first "So that's your job? You deliver papers?"

Thane sat up in the water cross legged "That's not an easy job for a girl your age to be doing. Why are you working so hard?"

Asuna didn't turn around as she started to Rinse Negi's hair "To pay my way. I'm an Orphan."

Thane blanched at that "An… Orphan?"

Negi lightly turned his head "Your parents are…dead?"

She grabbed a small pan and filled it with water "yeah, Konoka's Grandpa has looked out for me since I was small. Though I don't want to Mooch off of him forever, so I got a job to pay back what I owe Him, though he says I don't have to worry about it." Asuna felt Negi shivering and looked at him "Hum?" The tears in his eyes surprised her "Wha? Why are you crying?-! If you start complaining that I hurt you-!"

Negi was trying to wipe his tears away as he talked "N-No it's not that… You lead such a bitter and sad school life… I completely misjudged you!"

"Wha?-"

before she could talk, the sounds of crying could also be heard coming from the bath. She turned and saw Thane practically bawling his eyes out "WHY THE HELL ARE **YOU** CRYING!-?-!"

Thane got up out of the bath "*Sniff Sniff* No wonder your so angry all the time! You need a hug!"

She stared to back away "OH **HELL** NO!"

She pointed at Negi "I don't need your sympathy! And YOU!" She pointed at Thane, who was still inching closer " You so much as **touch **me in the nude, and I will shove this bar of soap so far up your ass, bubbles will be coming outta your-" Said bar of soap apparently didn't like that idea, so it somehow got under her foot, causing her to trip, right on top of Negi.

Thane stopped crying and dashed over "You guys Ok-?" the sight before him shut him up. Asuna had managed to Pin Negi's arms down with their faces too close for comfort while their bodies were in close proximity to each other. Thane's face was turning red "well this is awkward…"

the sound's of a sliding door and people chattering caused all three of them to jump. Asuna quickly jumped up "AW CRAP! What are people doing in here? It's too early for a bath!"

Negi started to flail around "Eh? Eh?"

Asuna and Thane started to look around for an escape route "If we are caught in here together, I'll never hear the end of it!"

Thane grabbed Asuna by the back of her swimsuit and Negi by the top of his head and threw them in the water "HIDE!" He jumped in after them and pulled them behind a large fern that was close to the water. He pushed Negi behind him while Asuna pushed her back against his front while pulling the fern down to provide more cover.

Thane leaned over her shoulder to get a better look. From what he could see, It was the Library Trio, The class rep, And Konoka who was looking around for Asuna and Negi.

"Figures… god my day just keeps going from bad to worse…"

Asuna held her finger to her lips "Shh! I don't wanna get caught!" poor Negi couldn't say anything due to the fact That Thane was crushing the poor boy up against the bath wall.

as soon as the girls sat down and started washing, Ayaka started to vent "This is madness! Letting Negi-sensei room with a Crazy ape Like Asuna! How did this happen?-!"

Konoka Started to wash her hair "She's not that bad, plus, it's what my grandfather wanted."

"The Dean did?"

Haruna started to scratch her chin, an idea working it's way into her thought process "Huh… maybe the Headmaster would let him stay with us if we asked, Right Nodoka?"

Thane peeked over Asuna's shoulder and saw Nodoka start to fidget "Um… well…"

Negi Finally managed to get himself out of the death lock with the wall and wrapped his arms around Thanes shoulders for a boost "What are they talking about?"

he felt Thane shoulders shrugged while Asuna gave them a hopeless look "They're all dopes…"

Ayaka looked over her shoulder, a scolding look in her eyes "you guys can barely look after yourselves! What he needs is-!"

Haruna started to chuckle to herself " let me guess, for somebody to Raise him properly? Like you?"

Both Asuna and Thane had the same thought _'so he needs to be raised huh?...'_

Yue finally decided to speak up "then wouldn't it be better to stick him and Thane-sensei in the same room? I am sure That Thane-Sensei could help him along much better then middle schoolers."

Ayaka really couldn't come up with a valid excuse for that one for the moment. But a sudden spurt of inspiration came to her "There is truth in what you say, However! He needs the support and loving grace of a mother Figure! It's a two sided Coin! And hey! Who's got more of a figure then me?"

Negi looked at Asuna and Thane with a little worry "Will I be changing rooms?"

Asuna simply shrugged "I can only hope."

Thane however, was not thinking about that right now. When Ayaka Said the word 'Figure' his attention finally came to focus on the display of female nudity in front of him, causing certain male reactions to be deployed. This did not go unnoticed by Asuna. Her face was red as she glared at him angrily and whispered at him dangerously "What the hell are you thinking about?"

Thane started to flush and gave a quick reply "I'm not thinking! That's the problem!"

Asuna elbowed him "don't get close to me with that thing! God knows what you would pull!"

Thane glared at her "I'm not that depraved! Like I'd go for you anyway you monkey!"

"what'd you say!-?"

Negi decided to intervene before they could come to blows "Please! Let's focus on getting out of here!"

When they finally calmed down enough to look for a chance to get out, they saw that quite a few more girls had come in to join the Negi debate. Thane's male reaction started to get stronger. Asuna jerked forward a little "Stop looking at them Dammit! And stop pushing_ 'that'_ against my back!" Thane however, was preoccupied with one person in particular, a certain dark skinned girl to be precise. This put his entire body into full panic mode,

"Oh Shit!"

Asuna and Negi were confused by his sudden fear "what's wrong Thane-san?"

His mouth was hanging open "I gotta get outta here! She'll kill me!"

It was at that Moment that he heard all the girls say something about a big breast competition. But he was too focused on the list of people that he knew could detect Him, and maybe a few others he didn't. Setsuna was looking over at the spot while blushing. Mana simply eyed the corner. Kaede could feel the strange chi coming from behind the fern. Eva was smirking, knowing what was going to happen in a few moments, and Ku Fei was wondering who could have such a strange Chi. Zazie Rainyday though not showing it, felt the three persons behind the Fern, but didn't show anymore interest then that.

Thane was practically crying _'I am going to die…'_

the ruckus behind the Plant started to get louder, which Asuna took for an opening "does our class have nothing better to do? Come on you two! There's an opening!" she grabbed Negi and yanked him out of the water. Thane however, tried to stop them,

"No! Not yet Asu-!" Thane watched as Negi crashed into Asuna, causing both of them to fall over each other in a tangled mess. The resulting crash caused everybody in the hall to look for the source of the noise. Thane saw for the second time that day Negi and Asuna in an awkward position that looked less then decent. However, the first time around was an audience of one. Now it was 30 plus odd students. There was a momentary Silence before everybody started talking

"Negi-sensei?"

"Negi-kun!"

Ayaka was blushing and had a surprised look on her face "A-A-Asuna! Wh-Wh-What are you doing to Negi-sensei while he's half Naked!-?"

Thane pulled himself further back into the Fern, knowing that the exit was blocked by the large body of females _'sorry Negi, Asuna… you're on your own from here… I like living…'_ Thane swam to the other side of the bath under the cover of the steam and got out into another bath away from the insanity. He heard the sounds of cheering from across the bath

"Asuna's got us all beat!"

"They're balloons you morons!"

Thane felt the Magic that Negi used but not on what. The sound of an explosion was heard and there was a large amount of scrambling out the door from what he could hear. Thane sighed in relief and sat back against the bath wall, letting the calming waters work their own magic. _'boy oh boy… I'm going to have to learn the times when girls come in here so That I don't have a repeat of today…'_ he leaned his head against one of the small palm trees that was close to the edge and closed his eyes

"yeah… after…*Yawn*… after I get done in here…" He allowed his thoughts to wander until he eventually nodded off, the day's hardships finally catching up to him.

**Xx Akira Okochi xX**

Akira pulled the door to her dorm open, feeling just a little tired. She walked in and placed her bag on the couch, where Yuna was currently seated watching a recording of her favorite afternoon Home-shopping program. Yuna turned her head toward her friend and gave her a smile "Hey Akira! So how was practice?"

Akira pulled a towel out of the closet along with a small water pan "It was fine. Everybody did rather well this time around, though the Captain could let up just a little…"

Yuna went back to watching "Cool."

Akira looked around the room for a minute, feeling that there was something missing. It suddenly dawned on her "Yuna, where is Thane-sensei?"

Yuna put her finger to her mouth and tried to remember "Uh… I…Hum… I think he's still out." Akira looked at her friend and simply shook her head at the lack of concern in her voice "Alright, I'll be in the bath for awhile" Yuna waved back at her without even turning. After she Left the room Yuna started to scratch her head "feels like I'm forgetting something…"

Akira was walking down the stairs and lightly smiled. The bath's were perhaps her favorite place in the whole school next to the Pool, even though the class rep had repeatedly told her that it wasn't for swimming on multiple occasions, she still did it anyway. Her happy thought was interrupted by the amount of people leaving the bath. She watched them all walk off, and Asuna holding her chest and Glaring at their child teacher. Scratching her head at what that was all about, she made sure that everybody was gone, and entered the changing room and got undressed. She undid her hair and, just to make sure, took one more glance around the Bath area, missing her sleeping Sensei halfway across the Hall. After concluding that there was nobody else present, she nodded her head at nobody in particular.

She set her stuff down and dashed forward, leaping into the air and diving forward into the water like a dolphin. She quickly surfaced with a look of pure happiness on her face and proceeded to do all manners of back strokes and front strokes. _'Ah truly a wonderful feeling…'_ she continued to do a few more laps around the largest of the baths until she finally got tired.

"I think it's time I do what I came to do…" She stood up and went into the next bath over, the very one her Male Roommate was sleeping in. Thane was slightly moving, just a twitch of a finger with some REM, A dream invading his Psyche.

**Xx ? xX**

_He was staring out into a beautiful blue lake with the surface concealed by the vapors of a nightly mist. Thane stood on the edge of the water and simply listened. He could hear the faint sound of a song ringing out into the night air. It was calling to him to take a step forward. However he simply stood there, hesitation evident in his movement "why?" was the only thing to come from his mouth. the song faintly whispered to him 'because I wish to meet you…' He still did not move from his spot "I cannot see you though. Where are you?"there was silence for a moment before the mist started to part, revealing a large bolder in the middle of the lake, the moon shining on it. 'I am here…' Thane looked harder and could see somebody sitting on the rock, there neck craned back in song. He could see that she was a woman from the curves on her chest and her slender legs. 'come to me and listen to my song…' Thane finally took a step into the water._

**Xx Bath xX**

Akira lazily floated in the water, letting her body simply be carried along with no particular destination. She had closed her eye, allowing herself to relax, a strange feeling wanting to escape from her chest _'I wonder why I feel so giddy today? I haven't ever felt like this before when I came into the bath…'_ She quickly pushed the thoughts from her mind as she let the water take her along its unknown course, Inching her closer and closer to Thane.

**Xx ? xX**

_Thane quickly took a step back out of the freezing water "That's cold!" The girl on the rock started to laugh high and clear, like a bell. Thane gave the person an angry scowl "Very funny! I'll teach you to laugh at me!" he quickly dived in and started swimming towards the rock. Much to his surprise, the girl Dived off into the water and swam faster than any human could right for him. He watched as she stopped close and started swimming around him, her face obscured by her Ocean blue hair. Thane gave her another scowl "Why are you hiding from me?" She merely laughed and swam very close to him her head just under his chin 'I do not hide, simply tease.' She tilted her head up, her hair obscuring just enough of her face for Thane not to see it. He reached down to move her hair aside, the face of the maiden close in sight._

**Xx Bath (again) xX**

Akira felt herself bump into something that wasn't quiet the wall. She opened her eyes and saw the Sleeping Face of her Sensei leaning up against the tree. Her face quickly turned red as she jumped up and took a few steps back. Thane remained asleep despite the water splashing against his chest. Akira observed him for a few more tense minutes before she came in a little closer "Thane…Sensei?" No reaction. She stared into his face for a moment longer, the feeling that was in her chest growing stronger. She shook her head and took a deep breath

_'Ok… I think I should try to move him out of the water, else he could catch a cold or somebody else finds him…'_

She looked him over for a second more, her eyes stopping on his face. _'He has such a peaceful face… I wonder what he is dreaming about?'_ She smiled at him and reached over, brushing his hair from his eyes. She suddenly realized what she was doing and blushed, quickly pulling her hand back "Wh-what am I doing?" She shook her head again and lightly smacked her cheeks.

"I need to get him out of here…" She reached over and pulled his arm up, slinging it over her shoulder. Before she could pick him up, however, his eyes fluttered open and he moved his head to look right into Akira's. There was a momentary pause "You have a beautiful face… you shouldn't hide it like that…"

"Eh?" Akira had to stop and think about what he just said, confusion the first thing on her mind.

Thane forced the rest of his sleepy conscious to the surface and suddenly realized who he was looking at. He quickly jumped back out of her grasp and straight into the tree "A-A-A-Akira! What are you-?" Thane let his eyes try to drift away to not look her in the face, but they drifted to the rest of her body, which was not covered this time, allowing Thane a full Frontal assault of his eyes.

Akira saw his eyes look down which caused her own to do the same. She blushed and covered herself up quickly, dropping into the water and turning around. Thane also quickly turned around and stared up at the ceiling _'this is a frikken repeat of this morning!'_

"I-I-I'm so sorry Akira! I didn't mean too! Though not to be rude, It's kinda hard not to…I mean you're just kinda… standing there… naked…" Thane did a face palm _'and you're standing here making an ass of yourself! Shut up!'_

Akira still had herself covered and tried to stammer out some words "I Th-Thought you were out somewhere! What are you doing here?"

"Um… well, to make a long story short, Yuna brought me here to show me the bath. I waited for her to bring me some spare clothes and I fell asleep."

Akira started to bite on her thumb nail _'Yuna! You said you didn't know where he was! You are so going to get it when I come back!'_

**Xx Dorm Room xX**

Yuna suddenly had a cold shiver run up her spine as she cooked "I feel like I should be gone before Akira comes back…"

**Xx current situation xX**

The silence that filled the bath house was crushing and left a very awkward feeling in the air. Thane finally had enough of the dreaded silence "Akira…*sigh*… I'm very sorry for this morning, and for right now. I have shamed myself in a very hideous manner and I can understand if you really don't want to forgive me either. But all I can say is, I'm sorry." Thane felt just a little better, and maybe a little cold from standing in the air. After a few more seconds of her lack of response, he took it as her not wanting to talk to him and started to walk away

"Wait!"

Thane stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around. Akira continued as she got up "neither time was your fault Thane-san. I found you in the bath and tried to help you, which resulted in this. When you walked in on me this morning, I should have perhaps been just a little more prepared and locked the door. So neither time was your fault…"

Thane didn't move, but he was stunned "I… see…" another few minutes of silence filled the room before Thane just sat back down in the water, the splashing catching Akira's attention. "Akira, could I ask you a favor?"

She lightly turned her head "Wh-What is it?"

she heard him sigh "Could you get me some spare clothes when you go back up to the dorm and bring them back here? Judging from the fact that you came here a few minutes ago, I take it that Yuna totally forgot about me."

Akira sighed as well, knowing that was the case "Sure…"

Thane went back and sat at his spot by the tree "great, I'll be right here when you get back, so don't mind me as you get done washing yourself" Thane thought about what he just said and started to blubber about "Uh… that…didn't come out quite right… I'll go to the back…"

Akira lightly laughed at his embarrassment. She suddenly remembered the large amount of people she saw before she came in herself "wait Sensei… did you happen to bath with anybody else?"

"No, I was done before anybody else showed up. I was just waiting for Yuna."

"Did you get your back?"

Thane turned around "Huh? My back? Uhhhh… I'm not sure… No, I don't think so…"

Akira turned away from him "then you're not done with your bath yet. Plus, I could also use some help washing my own back. That is, if you're alright with that…"

Thane could feel the heat beginning to rise, and not in the room. "Uh…can't you do it yourself?"

he didn't see the slight look of disappointment on her face "well… it's rather hard to wash my own back. I couldn't do it properly… but I understand."

Thane suddenly felt like he just kicked a puppy "wa-wait, wait… I didn't say I wasn't going to do it… just asking… that's all."

Akira suddenly felt a little better, though she didn't know why. Thane saw her get up and leave the bath. He counted to ten and followed suite, suddenly feeling like he was walking to a chopping block. He saw her sitting down and already starting to wash herself. He hung back at the edge of the bath, suddenly finding an interest in the ceiling. Unknown to him, Her face was beyond red while she washed _'what in god's name am I doing!-? Want me to wash your back? Where did those words come from? I should have simply finished getting my bath and went to get his clothes! Something has been wrong with me for the past week… since I meet Thane-san now that I think about it…'_

Thane was also preoccupied in his thoughts _'wash her back? Is this some strange custom that Japanese do? Oh gods… I need to start washing myself in the bathroom from now on…'_

"Ok… you can come wash my back now"

_'guk!'_ Those words felt very heavy as he got up. He put his towel around his waist and walked over, sitting behind her nervously. He reached over and grabbed the sponge from her pan and started to lather it up with her body wash. He couldn't help but smell it and noticed the scent of Melon _'I wonder if she smells like this… Oh gods, I'm turning into a pervert…'_

he shook his head and started to scrub her back. The fact that she lightly jolted from his sudden touch was not helping his nerves_ 'You think my nerves are any better?-!'_ Thane tried to occupy his mind with something, **anything** at all. He kept taking glances at her skin and noticed how white it was, like fresh fallen snow. He didn't notice that he was slowing down and almost completely stopped, Which caused Akira to slightly turn her Head in confusion

"Thane-san?"

Thane didn't hear her, and without even thinking, slowly ran his finger down the middle of her back. _'it feels soft… like satin…' _he suddenly realized what he was doing and started to scrub again with vigor _'Oh gods! What am I doing!-? did she feel that!-? I don't think so… the back has the least amount of nerve endings in the human body…'_ Thane didn't know it, but Akira **had** felt it, and her face was bright as a tomato.

"Um…Thane-san…"

The pale youth jumped back in surprise "YES!-?"

"You've been scrubbing the same spot for a minute now…"

Thane started to silently beat his own head in _'focus stupid!'_ "Right! Sorry! Got my mind on other things right this second! HA HA…" _'yeah like what it would be like if I got my hands on her…2+2=4, 6+6=12, 14+14=28!'_ letting that little mental exercise cloud his mind, Thane proceeded to finish scrubbing her back and sighed in relief. He turned away and laughed "Ha ha! Ok! Now that were done, you can-!"

"We're not done yet…"

Thane felt his heart stop in horror _'oh sweet Terrathrax, what now!-?'_

"Um… I'm pretty sure we are! Just got done scrubbing your back so that just leaves you to-!"

"I need to wash your back"

Thane felt his heart drop into his stomach "What?"

Akira felt her heart suddenly speed up _'what am I doing? He is obviously really uncomfortable with this, I just need to stop this here!'_

"You washed my back, and obviously you didn't have anybody to help you with yours, so I want to return the favor…"

Internal Akira was tearing her hair out _'that's not what I wanted to say!-!'_

Thane's brain was starting to overheat "Uh… well Akira-san… That's real nice… but seriously, You don't have to! It's not going to kill me if I don't wash my back once!" he started to scratch the back of his head in nervousness. She, however, wasn't about to take a no for an answer "don't be silly, now sit down and let me wash your back…"

before Thane could back away, she grabbed his arm quick as lightning, and with a strength that didn't match her appearance, forced him to sit down. Akira felt a little bit of pride well up inside her, though she didn't understand where it came from as she lathered up the sponge. Thane felt the sponge make contact with his skin and he slightly jolted, doing everything he could to prevent himself from running away. Akira was also feeling nervous for some reason

_'oh why did I suggest to do this… I must be going crazy…' _though when he had scrubbed her back, she had secretly been enjoying it. When he had touched her skin suddenly, she didn't feel embarrassed, but happy. And as she sat there and scrubbed his back, she kept having strange thoughts of embracing him from behind just to see his reaction. She shook her head again, but it didn't get rid of the feeling. She slowly worked her way from the top to the middle and eventually, She got the whole thing done. But the feeling persisted, and she felt herself getting closer and closer to his back, a heated feeling coming over her mind.

Thane had felt her stop a second ago, but was confused when nothing happened, until he saw her arms appear by his side and her warm breath on his neck with her body heat inching closer and closer to his back

"Akira…what are you doing?"

The Haze lifted from her mind and Akira suddenly saw that she was mere inches from his back, her head close to his shoulder and her arms closing around his sides. She looked at his face and saw the confusion and shock there. She quickly backed off with a blush on her face "I-I'm sorry! I don't know what happened, I was just-!"

Thane stared at her for a few more seconds before he grabbed the pan and rinsed himself off in the cool water. He got up and jumped into the water, refusing to even look at her right that instant. Thane was bright red and trying to get his emotions back under control _'ohmygodohmygodohmygod OH MY GOD! The skin, and the breath, and the eyes, and the! The! The! God I can't even think straight! What was that!-?'_

Akira's mind was in a similar state of chaos _'oh god, what in the world have I done? I don't even know what came over me! I hope he doesn't think I'm a freak…or a pervert! or a freaky pervert...'_

The both of them were quiet in their thoughts before anybody said anything "Um… Thane-sensei… I'm sorry about that… I… I don't really know what that was…"

Thane looked back at her "we… we're very tired, that's all. You from your Swimming practice, and me from… certain events. Let's just say it never happened ok?" Thane got up and walked into the dressing room, quickly putting his older clothes on, not even bothering to put his Hair ring back on and simply put it in his pocket. He exited the room and waited for Akira to get dressed.

When she finally got done, The both of them went back to the room quietly, simply letting silence fill the air as they walked. When they got back to the room Thane walked through the door and was greeted by the sound of surprise "Now I remember! I was supposed to bring you clothes! That was it!"

If glares could kill, Yuna would have been dead on the spot. Thane leaped at her and put her in a head lock "YOU! This is your fault! None of this would have happened if you had brought my clothes on time!"

Yuna was trying to worm her way out of the head lock "I'M SORRY! AKIRA! HELP ME!" Yuna reached out for her tired friend, who simply gave her a slightly cold look "I think being like that will do you some good…" Yuna watched in horror as Akira went to the bathroom to get changed. She slowly turned toward the now smiling Thane "aw hell…"

**Xx thirty Minutes of serious noogie time later xX**

Akira had gotten changed into her Pajamas and was already lying down in the top bunk. Yuna was lying on her bed, holding her smoking scalp with the occasional sniff being heard from her direction. Thane was sitting on the couch in his own black PJ's holding his head at all the stuff that happened today _'they want me to do this for three more months? I'll never make it…'_

Thane sighed and thought back to a certain point in the day _'what was that dream about? The pond and the full moon were beautiful, but the girl in the dream was also really gorgeous, even if I never saw her face… but it was still odd. Felt like I should know it…'_ he turned over and got up to turn out the light _'oh well, I'll worry about it some other time. But I think the only good news that came out of today, was that tomorrow can't possibly be any worse… and that Akira has a nice body…'_

Thane scratched the top of his head furiously and shouted out to nobody in particular "Good night!" he turned out the light and jumped on the couch, letting the warmth of his blanket overcome him and put him to sleep.

* * *

><p>SO! How was this chapter my lovely's? This was definitely more of a filler character development chapter more then anything!I felt that there might have been a little to much forced perversion in the bath scene... but I'll leave it up to you guys to decided that or not~! and the best way to let me know if I did? reviews! so what will happen next with Thane when he comes face to face with... Dodgeball bitch?-! this won't end well...

Oh, and in case any of you are wondering about the dream at the start of the chapter and what it signifies in the future plot? It doesn't mean anything save that I had the very same dream not to long ago, only it didn't involve anime characters... that's about the only thing different. Everything else happened... my mind is a funny place


	5. Chapter 5

Hello everybody! How we all doing? I must apologize for the delay in getting this chapter up. Due to unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances, I have lost my internet, so getting these up might be a little harder then I would like from now, but fear not! I will work hard to bring you new chapters! but that's not what your here for, your here to read more Pale Roots, so lets get to doing that shall we?

Now to reply to the fans!

leo247: You want a Hint? Hum... alright then! How many groups of three can you name in the 3-A Class? Think about it and the answer should come to you soon enough!

Assassin4life: Thank you Kindly! Glad to see you think so!

Anon: Close... but no Cigar.

Negima and all it's idea and Very pretty girl belong to One Ken Akametsu, I will happily take this down if it in some way insults him or he deems it otherwise

* * *

><p>Pale Roots<p>

Chapter 3: Strange findings & disastrous Dodge ball

Thane was out of breath. He had leaned over on a lamppost, trying to recover his energy. "Ho-Hold on…*Huff* *Wheeze* I need ta… I need to breathe…"

Setsuna lowered her wooden blade. Her aura for combat dissipating only to be replaced with a worry "are you alright Thane-sensei?"

Thane Slumped to the ground and gave her an annoyed look "I thought I asked you to stop calling me Sensei outside of class. And right now, you're my Sensei, remember?" Thane used the wooden blade in his hand to push himself up and got back into a fighting position "alright, let's try that again, I am not going to leave until I land one hit on you!"

Setsuna however, shook her head "I think you need to rest, we've been going at it nonstop since this morning, and you haven't even eaten yet."

Thane waved his sword around angrily "Who needs food! I need to hurry up and figure out what's wrong with me!"

Setsuna scratched her chin "yes it is very odd…"

when the both of them had started there jogging/sparring a week and a half ago, Thane had shown a remarkable ability with the Iai-do sword technique. However, his ability to actually swing the blade was less than perfect. Thane had claimed that he had some sword abilities, though Setsuna was skeptical of his claim at first. However, he had proved himself right from the rapid rate at which he was learning. Eventually she actually had to be careful in there mock battles. That is until a few days ago. Thane's progression seemed to have halted altogether, much to both of their worry. Thane believed that if they simply went at it for real, he'd be out of his funk in no time. The only thing it had gotten him was many bruises and a black eye with a concussion following closely behind. And today was proving to be no different.

Thane charged forward with his blade aimed at her chest. Setsuna quickly ducked and launched forward with a swing from her right, aiming to take his legs out from under him. Thane Vaulted forward over her crouching form and rolled behind her, quickly getting to his feet. He brought his blade up to defend his face from Setsunas Downward strike and pushed up with his own Blade. Thane quickly leaped back and got back into a position, Setsuna never taking her eyes off him, her eyes cold and precise.

Thane slightly shivered _'She is scary when she does that… but I think it's time for me to be the hunter instead of the hunted…'_ Thane took a deep breath and relaxed his stance.

This put Setsuna on her guard and forced her to charge forward. Thane twirled the blade over in his hand a few times and savagely brought it down where Setsunas head was going to be. She forced herself to stop and just avoided getting her head caved in. Thane wasn't done yet. He quickly brought the blade back and swung hard on her right, which she blocked. He brought it back around and got two more successive strikes in on her guard, forcing her to take a few more steps back. When she took the last step back, he twirled the blade and thrust it forward at her chest. Setsuna widened her eyes and deflected the blade to her left. Thane dashed forward and elbowed her in the gut, causing her to cough out and leap back. He quickly gave chase and started to bring his sword down in a mighty blow. In a moment of clarity, Setsuna brought her blade up and hit the handle, knocking it out of his grasp. She thrust the blade forward and struck him square in the chest, knocking him back a few feet into the ground.

The fight was over, and Thane knew That Setsuna had beaten him, again.

"*cough* *Cough* Damn it! *Cough* I could almost feel the inspiration!" Thane sat up and saw Setsuna rubbing her gut "very good! I think we are making a break through! That was the first time you hit me all morning."

Thane was going to say something about that not being a great accomplishment, but the look of pride she gave him caused a blush to form on his face "Huh… I guess…"

Setsuna came over and helped him up. He saw her rub her ribcage again and gave her a look "are you ok? I didn't break something did I?"

she saw him looking and blushed "No! I'm fine! Just a little sore that's all. That was a good elbow you gave me, are you sure you're a swordfighter?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "I kinda learned a lot of fighting styles. But if I had to rank it, Sword fighting is my third best though."

Setsuna gave him a curious look "third best? Then what is your best fighting style?"

Thane gave her a mischievous look "sorry! Can't tell you that! I'll let you figure it out!"

Setsuna gave him an annoyed expression but didn't push it. Thane felt a slight twinge in his chest and started to rub it "Ow… you really got me good… Thankfully it wasn't a real sword or I would be dead…"

Thane looked over and gave her a smile "Thank you for teaching me today Sensei, I will take these lessons and hone them in my spare time. Of course, I enjoy it better when I do it with you"

Setsuna blushed again, her mind thinking something kinda indecent, but quickly shook her head "Likewise. Now if you will excuse me Thane-san, I need to get ready for the rest of the day."

Thane waved at her "I'll see you in class Setsuna." She gave him one last bow and left. Thane watched her leave and sighed to himself "well… I guess I better start getting ready for today's insanity…"

**Xx a little later xX**

Thane was heading up the stairs toward the teachers' lounge, not being late for once and internally patting himself on the back. _'No bad things have happened yet, so far so good!'_ That was quickly dashed when he walked through the front door. He spotted Negi sitting at his desk with a defeated look on his face and in his posture. Thane started his sighing session for the day _'let's see what's wrong now…'_ Thane walked behind him and patted him on the back "hey Negi! What's wrong? Did Asuna-san finally kick you out or something?"

"No… but I think she will sometime in the next few days… This is hopeless… I'm a lousy magician and an even worse Teacher…"

Thane gave him a slight tap on the shoulder "Hey, come on. Don't talk like that…" Thane moved to his front but accidently hit the bandaged stick and knocked it over "Sorry about that!" Thane reached down and picked it up, handing it back to Negi.

The moment he took it in his hands, the defeated look on his face changed "my staff…" Negi shook his head and clenched his free hand into a fist, an expression of determination coming over him "No, I can't quite yet!"

Thane didn't know what just happened, but he smiled at the new found confidence.

"That's the spirit Negi-Sensei"

"WOAH!" Thane jumped over a few feet from the sudden voice behind him and saw Shizuna standing behind him with a smile of her own.

Negi suddenly lit up "Ah! Shizuna-sensei! Hi! Did you need something?" instead of answering him with words she handed him a few sheets of paper in reply. Thane got behind him and looked over Negi's shoulder, which wasn't very hard considering their height difference.

"Takahata-Sensei wanted me to give you the **'2-A's after class list'**"

Thane scratched his head and looked at the mother figure "After class list? What's that?"

Shizuna gave them a smile "Yes, Takahata-sensei Gives out Pop quizzes and the ones who have bad scores end up staying behind for tutoring"

Negi looked back at the piece of paper "let's see who the lucky devils are…" both Thane and Negi lightly laughed at seeing a particular face on the list. Thane crossed his arms in amusement "Asuna-san, should've known…" Negi gave a smile "Asuna-san could use the English help, but I don't think that she would ever-"

Shizuna Finished that sentence "-Accept help? She's never minded before." Shizuna leaned in close to Negi's ear, causing Thane to also lean in "of course, Takahata was the one who taught those classes. For you two, it might be a different story."

Thane huffed in amusement "Huh, no joke. She might jump out the window before she took lessons from us."

Negi nodded his head in agreement "yeah, I agree with-" Negi suddenly stopped what he was saying and started to Think, his hand over his mouth in thought _'Wait… this could be my big Chance to help Asuna out!'_

Thane looked at Negi curiously "What are you thinking about Negi?"

the young boy Nodded his head "Alright! I'll do the after class tutoring!"

"You mean 'we' Negi. We will do the after class tutoring" Negi scratched the back of his head in embarrassment "Right…"

**Xx After classes' xX**

Thankfully the classes themselves had not been much of an issue, Save for the fact that the Narutaka Twins had somehow managed to get an electromagnet on the ceiling of the class and covered the first person to walk through the door in Iron Oxide. That unfortunate soul happened to be Thane, who had quickly become attached to the ceiling, and not in a romantic manner. He said to continue the lesson and that he would figure out how to get down on his own while Negi lectured. On the bright side, he had an excellent view of the class and of those who weren't paying attention. Eventually, he managed to get down. Though not in a graceful manner, something which Misora Kasuga can attest to since he landed on her. After much apologizing and scolding the twins, the class finally ended, allowing Negi and Thane to implement the after class tutoring.

"And so… 2-A's very own Mighty Morphing Baka Rangers have assembled!"

Yue, Kaede, Makie, Ku Fei, and Asuna all stood lined up in there pose's. Well everybody except Asuna that is "Who are you calling a Baka?" (Baka= Stupid/ Idiot for those who didn't know)

Thane laughed nervously while Negi smiled at the simple Charm of the situation. Asuna crossed her arms in annoyance "I just have a lot on my mind right now, that's all! I'll get into the High school level on my own… eventually…"

Negi smugly wagged his finger at her "Goodness Asuna… Takahata-sensei would hate to hear how your grades have started to slip…" he let the last word go on long enough for her to get the point

"geh!... you wouldn't…" She looked over at Thane, who was having a hard time not smiling sadistically

"Oh I would… I so would… Uf fufufufu…"

Asuna dropped her head in defeat "Fine… I'm in…"

After the girls were seated, Negi handed the Tests to Thane who handed them out to the five girls. Negi got back behind his desk "Alright, first off, a ten point quiz. You stay until you score a six or higher, if you don't, I go over the points you missed."

No sooner then he said that, Yue handed the test to Thane "all done"

Both Negi and Thane had the same reaction "That was fast!" Thane looked it over for about a minute and smiled "You got a nine! Good for Yue… Uh… you Yue!" Nodoka and Haruna congratulated there friend, while Negi gave her a strange look

"You know you could smile about it…"

Thane got behind her and put his hands over her cheeks, puffing them up "Ha! This** is** her smile!"

she pulled out of his grasp and gave him a slightly annoyed look, which he returned with a smile of his own. Yue simply sighed "You Know Thane-Sensei, we haven't seen you in the Library a lot recently."

Thane noticed the slight tinge of sadness in her voice and the looks he got from Nodoka. He rubbed the back of his head guiltily "I confess, I have been rather busy recently. But I will be by the Library later this afternoon; can I hope to see you three there?"

"Ye- Yes!" Nodoka had nodded her head quickly, which made Thane smile at her warmly. He put her in a head lock and gave her a noogie "Then I'll be by later this afternoon then! See you guys there!"

after letting Nodoka go, he watched the trio leave and sighed to himself. He saw That Negi was grading a few more papers and looked to see if he could do anything. Asuna was holding her paper up for him to Collect, which he did quickly. Though he wasn't quite so ready to give it back to her after he put the 2 on the paper. After a long lecture, they tried again.

The results were thankfully better this time around. Negi was congratulating Ku Fei and Kaede while Thane was going over Makies work "You got by with a six Makie." She rubbed the back of her head cutely "sorry for being dumb Sensei"

he watched the three leave the Class room and heard five dreaded words "How did you do Asuna-san?" Thane turned around and walked up behind Negi, seeing the big 1 on her paper _'dear gods she's getting dumber by the minute…'_

Negi, However, had not entirely lost hope yet "D-Don't worry! If I could learn Japanese in three weeks, you can nail English in no time Flat! Again ,to be, you are, I am!" Thane saw Asuna's face, and it screamed _'shoot me now…'_

**Xx a few Agonizing lessons later xX**

Thane and Negi were looking at the papers spread out in front of them with a nervous expression. The quiz papers hardly even got above the 4 marker and Asuna was shaking in Shame and Anger "I are stupid… you am useless…"

Negi quickly started to flail about "Ahh! Don't give up yet Asuna! I'm sure that we can-!"

"Hey Negi! How are things going in there?" everybody in the room looked over at the door and saw Takahata T. Takamichi standing in the door way with a smile on his face.

Asuna quickly jumped up while Thane could only marvel at the way fate works _'this guy has got the worst timing I have ever seen… even worse Then Oswald's if you put it in retrospect'_

Takamichi saw Asuna and gave a light laugh "Asuna-kun, Should've known. Try not to give your Sensei's to much trouble alright?"

Asuna started to flail her arms around "T-T-Takahata-sensei! I-I wasn't trying on purpo-!"

He left the room while laughing "Alright, you guys do your best now!"

Thane looked over and saw Asuna shivering _'Ohhhhh… this won't end well…'_

Negi was trying to comfort her in some way "Asuna-san… it'll be fine…"

Asuna dashed over and grabbed the papers from Thane's hands and peeled out the door screaming "IT'LL NEVER BE ALRIGHT!" Negi ran out the door after her with his staff in hand yelling for Asuna to wait up.

Thane stood there, looking at the door with a blank expression on his face "… Does this mean I can go now?" with no answer coming, Thane looked around the class and started to ponder _'I guess so... I wonder were Sayo got to… I haven't seen her since yesterday, and she wasn't in her seat today either… so does it count if a ghost misses a class?'_ Thane scratched his chin for a few more Minutes before he finally just shrugged his shoulders _'I guess it doesn't matter… but I still am worried about her…'_

Thane went over and sat in the seat next to Sayo's and waved his hand over it "Huh… nothing…" he sat there for a few more Minutes before he touched her chair "Sayo-chan? Are you in here somewhere?" he still didn't get anything. Thane's mouth was curved into a pondering ark "Ok… now I am starting to worry…" Thane sat back in the chair "I wonder what a good way to find her is…"

Thane suddenly sat straight up "Of course! How could I have forgotten about it!" Thane reached into his pocket and pulled out the small metallic sphere "let's see if I can remember the Number… Uh…what was it again… Oh yeah! Omni tool! Get me Item number 77654: codename 'Board of Xanat'!" the small ball suddenly glowed and a small stone board with intricate designs appeared.

Thane reached out and grabbed it, facing the side that looked like a compass without a needle. He placed the Omni tool back in his pocket and pulled out a small bag next. "Ok… now let's see… I think the Earth equivalent to the Plant was called _Atropa Belladonna_… or was it Nightshade…wait, I think those are the same thing… here we are!" he pulled out light purple petals and scattered them on the board. He then placed it on Sayo's Chair and started to think "Now for the incantation… what was it again?... oh yeah! _Oh master of the sovereign plane of ether, heed my call and guide me to Sayo Aisaka!_"

The petals on the board slowly started to shift around until they made an arrow pointing out the door of the class. Thane fist pumped "Alright! Now let's see how fast I can find that adorable ghost!" Thane picked up the board and followed the Flower compass.

**Xx Sayo Aisaka xX**

The depressed Ghost gave a heavy sigh "Ohhhh… what did I do to deserve this?..."

Sayo was hovering close to the door of the convenience store, watching as people go in and out, getting there day to day necessities, unknown to the fact that they were being watched. However, even the comforting feeling that she used to get from sitting here had diminished greatly, filled by a sad emptiness. "I wonder what Thane-sensei is doing… probably hanging out with more noticeable people…"

Sayo let her mind wander to yesterday and the embarrassing display she made of herself. She blushed A deep silver and shook her head _'Oh why oh why did I do that?... But… he just looked so…so… handsome… not that he wasn't before, but he just seemed to get better by the minute… I bet he thinks I'm a weirdo now…'_

Sayo curled up into a ball and sat down by the door "It was nice while it lasted at least…" The Ghost held her right hand out, remembering the contact of warmth on her translucent skin. She put her hand to her face, trying to remember the warmth of his hand. She put her forehead into her knee and stifled a cry "While it lasted…"

"Found you!"

Sayo looked up and saw her Pale Teacher heavily panting with a small stone tablet in his hands. Sayo stared at him with a shocked expression "Se-Sensei?"

Thane's body was busy trying to catch its breath. However, his brain was too busy trying to say what it wanted to notice "Dear *pant* God's girl! *Wheeze* Where *Pant* were you? *Pant* *Pant*…"

Sayo felt a small smile start to show on her face before she suddenly remembered the things she did yesterday "I-I-I'm sorry! I'll leave you alone now!" Sayo quickly took off.

Thane reached out his hand to try to stop her "Ah! Wait Sayo!" She didn't get very far however. Thane still couldn't tell you how she did it, but before she could even get a few feet; Sayo tripped on something and fell flat on her face. Thane stared at her for a second, wondering what in the world a ghost could trip on "Uh…Sayo? You ok?"

She sat up and started to cry "I don't even have legs and I still manage to fall flat on my face! I have to be the worst, most stupid ghost ever!"

Thane came over and patted her on the head "There there… You're not a stupid ghost Sayo. You're a cute Girl with a beautiful smile." She looked up at him with her tear stained face "re- Really?" Thane nodded "uh-hu, it's true"

"Mommy, why is that man talking to himself?"

"Shhhh! don't point at him!"

Thane looked around and saw people giving him odd stares, and maybe a few reaching for their phones to call a psycho ward.

_'Aw shizz…'_ Thane scooped The Spirit in his arms and ran off with her, not noticing the heavy blush she had on her face. After dashing like a mad man for a good seven minutes, Thane finally stopped and tried to catch his breath "*Pant* *Pant* God… I think I've done more running today then I have for all of last week…"

Sayo was strangely quiet and wasn't moving much at all. Thane looked down at her and saw that she wasn't making eye contact with him, finding interest in one of the buttons on his suite. "You ok Sayo? I didn't jostle you around too much did I?"

She looked down, letting her hair obscure her face "n-No… I'm fine…"

Thane shrugged his shoulders and put her down and proceeded to start stretching his tight limbs "alright, if you say so"

Sayo Lightly hovered in front of him and breathed deeply "Um… Thane-sensei…"

Thane stopped his stretching midway and looked at her "yeah?"

Sayo bowed low "I-I'm sorry for what I did yesterday! It was really awful of me and…and…"

Thane lightly flicked her on the forehead "is that what's been eating you since yesterday? Well that explains a lot… but don't worry about it. What you did was out of your control, so I don't blame you for it…_plus it really wasn't that bad_…"

Sayo craned her head at the last part "What was that last part?"

Thane threw his arms up in front of his face and laughed a little too loud " HA HA! NOTHING! HA HA!"

Sayo tilted her head cutely in confusion, but didn't ask anything about it. The ghost girl hovered next to him and examined the stone tablet under his arm "So what is that? Is it how you found me?"

Thane held it up flat for her to see "Yup, It's called the Board of Xanat. It's a Magical Spirit Anchor Item that allows me to Summon, find, or Disperse Ghosts or Demons. It comes with a bit of a catch however. I need to find a font of ether in order for it to work. Thankfully, your seat had been collecting the ether coming off your body for years, so I used that. I hope you don't mind."

Sayo scratched her chin "Why would I mind?"

Thane pulled out his Omni-tool and put the board away "It won't do anything to you specifically, but your seat may feel just a little… strange for a while now. It won't last long though."

Sayo gave him a quizzical look, but didn't ask anymore than that. Thane pulled out his cell phone and looked at the time "Hum… 5 O'clock… do you want to come with me to the Library Sayo-chan? I'm afraid I might get lost if I went myself."

Sayo quickly nodded her head "Sure!"

Thane smiled at her and bowed "Well then, after you Milady."

Sayo slightly blushed but went first with Thane walking beside her. A few quite minutes went by with nothing of real interest happening, of course, that's from Thanes perspective. Sayo was busy taking glances at her pale Teacher and unconsciously opening and closing her right hand, slightly drifting just a little closer to him every minute _'I really want to ask him… but would it be too forward? Would he think I'm weird for it? He did say that he would be there for me if I needed it… but do I really need it?'_ Sayo pinched her lips together in thought and nervously rubbed her right hand.

Thane noticed her nervous behavior and poked her in the back "hey, are you really ok? I guess I did end up being too rough with my running, and you're still not used to Human touch either."

Sayo quickly waved her hands "Oh, No no no! You didn't do anything! It's just… I kinda…um…"

Thane scratched his head in confusion "_Kinda_ what? Hurt yourself when you fell? Have cramps? Wait… do ghosts even get a Period?"

Sayo was blushing deeply "No! Not that! And you don't ask a lady those questions!" Sayo took a deep breath and calmed herself down "I wanted … to ask you… to… touch… me."

There was a moment of silence.

Thane's face was redder then a tomato "Uh!... That is…Uh…That's… not something a… student should ask of her teacher…"

Sayo's face was very shiny silver as she started to fumble out her words "Th-That's not what I-! I-! You-! URGH! I only wanted you to hold my hand!" She realized what she just said and clamped her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide in shock at her own boldness.

Thane started to laugh, albeit rather nervously "A-ah ha! So that's what you meant! Ah Ha ha! Sorry about that! Was thinking of something totally different there!" Sayo lightly sighed "I think the term to use here would be _'your mind is in the gutter'_" Thane laughed for a second more before he slumped over in defeat "yeah, sorry…"

She acted a little angry for a while longer before she started to giggle at him "it's alright. That was more my fault"

Thane looked away from her for a second, a nervous grin on his face _'I would agree, but I don't wanna end up lowering her self-esteem. Again.'_

She started to blush and look away "So… forget I said anything… and we'll go to the Library without any more delays!"

Thane looked at her for a moment, feeling even more nervous about her request then the mishap earlier. She started to float away when Sayo suddenly felt herself being pulled by her hand.

She turned her head and saw Thane holding her hand in his own, his face beet red and his lips pinched in embarrassment "I…I said I would be there for you regardless of what you asked, so if you want me to hold your hand, I'll do it…" _'Her hands feel really soft… is it legal to have such soft hands?'_ Thane looked at her face and saw her smiling at him with that beautiful smile he so enjoyed.

He looked forward and started to drag her along, not looking at her face in fear of any hidden intentions in his own mind _'This is only me doing a student a favor. Nothing more!' _He turned his eyes and saw her hovering alongside him grasping his hand in return. She noticed him looking at her and gave him another warm smile. The pale youth forced his eyes forward _'That smile ought to be illegal…'_

**Xx many rushed miles later xX**

Thane stood outside the library, a look of serene calm on his face "Ahhhhh, my home away from home…"

Sayo moved up next to him slightly tilted her head "Home away from home?"

Thane threw his free arm up in a flourish "yes! The place I go when I can't go back to the apartment! Or if I feel like reading a book. Or in this case, to go and visit a few friends…" Thane noticed the lack of the other hand and remembered he was holding Sayo's. He felt a blush come over his face again and let go of it, much to Sayo's regret.

The pair entered the vast library and was greeted by a familiar voice "About time you got here!"

Thane turned his head up and saw Haruna leaning over the railing and giving him a playful smile. Thane merely shrugged his shoulders "Hey, ya didn't give me a specific time! Like I can read your mind! Where are Yue and Nodoka-chan by the way?" Thane craned his neck over trying to see past the Mangaka. "They're in the back waiting, so hurry up! I got something to show you!"

Thane turned to Sayo with a quizzical look. She merely reflected his reaction. Thane walked up the steps and followed the Green haired Girl to a table hidden by Bookshelves. She sat down and motioned for him to sit across from her, which he did hesitantly. "Sooooo… what did you want to show me Paru?"

Haruna reached into her bag and pulled out a small stack of papers "Tell me Sensei… What do you know of the… _'Interesting'_ side of Manga?"

Thane blinked blankly "Uhhhhhh…I think it's all rather interesting, some of my favorites are In**asha, and D***man. I like the new one that just came out though. What was it again… Naru… something or other… something about a Ninja."

Haruna pushed her glasses up to her eyes "I'll take that as Ignorance then… Allow me to show you the other side of the world! (Of Manga.)" Thane gave her a suspicious look, but grabbed the paper anyway. The title should have been a good warning to stop right there "_Josho Ryu?_ (Rising Dragons) Sounds manly, I thought you wrote That Magical Girl series?"

Paru started to chuckle evilly, which should have been his second indicator to stop reading "I do, but I write other things in the mean time… I hope you enjoy it…"

Thane shrugged his shoulders and started reading, a mistake he would come to regret many years down the road. After reading five pages, Thane's face was twisted into disbelief and horror. When he turned to the sixth page, He spewed and his eyes widened in pure abject horror. It was like staring at a train wreck, it was gruesome but you just couldn't bring yourself to turn away from it.

Haruna Finally couldn't hold her laughter in anymore and she started to roll on the ground laughing "OMG! You should see the look on your face right now! HA HA HA!"

Thane held up the spicy male Doujin and started to yell at her **"WHAT IN THE NINE GODS IS THIS SHIZZ?-!-?" **

Haruna managed to work enough air in her lungs to give him a response "That My friend is called Yaoi! Or Boys love, BL for short" She was giggling madly at seeing His bright red face. Neither one of them was aware of it, but Sayo was shaking at what she just saw, her face brighter then the cleanest silver.

"Why by the Name of Vanesis did you show me this?-!-!"

Haruna smiled at him innocently "I'm sorry, is it not to your liking?"

Thane pointed at one of the Heroes "This sick bastard looks just like me!-!-! Of Course not!-!-! And is that an adult version of Negi!-?" he pointed at the other sexy hero.

Haruna leaned back in her chair "Purely coincidental."

Thane shoved the paper in her face "Coincidental my ass! As your teacher, I have to say that this is a serious problem that you have here!"

Haruna Reached into her bag and pulled some more papers out "Then perhaps this will be more to your taste…"

"Why in the world would I want to look at more of this BL Cr-!" Thane looked down at it anyway, and suddenly shut up. There was a moment of Silence before Thane snapped it out of her hands and started to read intently. Sayo was over his shoulder trying to see what had caught his attention.

Haruna laughed smugly "I do believe that I have found a common ground here."

Thane looked up at her with a bloody nose "Wh-What is this?"

"That, Sensei, is called Yuri. The opposite of BL" Thane looked back down at the paper with more blood leaking from his nostrils. He pointed at one of the Characters "is that-?"

Haruna nodded her head "In likeness, yes"

he pointed at the other one "and-?"

Paru nodded her head "In likeness only" Thane looked around the room to see if the other two had come back "Do they know about this?"

Haruna sheepishly looked away "Well… They know about my hobby… but not about that one in particular, no…"

Thane went over the last few pages and handed it back to her, Sayo caught a glimpse of two girls on the cover that looked remarkably like Yue and Nodoka embracing each other in an Intimate way. Thane pulled a small cloth from his pocket and started wiping the blood off his face "well Haruna… as your teacher, I am not one to stop your creative ways. So I am willing to turn a blind eye to the… earlier display…"

Haruna Saotome leaned forward with a smile on her face "then I take it that you enjoyed it?"

Thane looked away from her "…Yuri is (Great) Stupid. (I Hope to read more in the future) I won't be caught dead reading that…"

"Sensei, your real thoughts are bleeding through"

Thane quickly began to flail around "Don't read the text Dammit!"

"Haruna, what are you doing to Sensei?" Thane fell back in his chair from the sudden voice behind him. He looked up and Saw Yue staring down at him "Ah! It's Yue…You Yue! I was wondering where you got to!"

Thane quickly got up and sat in his chair. Nodoka came from behind her friend and bowed "H-hello Sensei…"

Thane reached over and scratched the top of her head "Awww, you guys don't have to call me Sensei outside of class if you don't wanna."

Yue sat next to Thane while Nodoka sat next to Paru, who had tucked her manuscripts away when they hadn't been looking. Thane saw the large stack of books they had brought and grabbed a few from the top "Oh boy! Let's see what more I can learn today…wait…"

he got looks from the other three with Yue speaking up "What is it?"

Thane scratched the back of his head "sorry about this, but could I ask you guys help in finding something revolving around the occult? Something about Curses in particular actually"

Yue and Haruna gave him a confused look "why?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "No reason! Just a simple interest in magic that's all!" _'Well the real reason is on how to unlock a curse from an 800+ year old vampire, but truth is often stranger than fiction and I Don't Think they need to know that'_

Nodoka seemed to sparkle at the opportunity "Of course! What kind are you looking for? Voodoo? Hexes? Shattering love?"

Thane gave her a nervous look "Uh… just on sealing curses…" _'Shattering love? … Ooooooooook then…'_

Nodoka quickly got up with Thane following closely behind her. Haruna and Yue went in the opposite direction, with Haruna saying something about finding more than one kind. Thane followed behind Nodoka quietly as she grabbed a few books off the shelves at random times. He smiled at her when he saw the excited look on her face every time she grabbed a book.

_'She makes me think of Lif every time she does that…'_ "Wow Nodoka-chan, I know I shouldn't say this, after seeing you do it all of last week, but the knowledge you have of the Library continues to baffle me."

Nodoka lightly blushed from his praise "oh… it's not really that great… I still don't know all the books in Library Island… only here."

Thane scrunched his eyes in thought "Library Island… Oh yeah! That big ol building in the center of the lake right? Well, you'll get there; all it takes is patience, just like love you know?"

Nodoka slightly tensed up "y-yes…"

Thane smiled at her and took the books from her hands. He leaned in close and whispered into her ear "I'll be rooting for you Nodoka-chan. He may be young, but I'm sure you can reach his heart."

She suddenly started to flap her arms "I-I-I-I Don't like Negi-sensei or anything!"

Thane started to walk away with a smile on his face "I didn't say you did."

Nodoka, realizing her mistake, dropped her head in defeat "Ohhh…"

**Xx A Long study and discussion later xX**

'_All that study and I still didn't find a thing about that Damn seal! So much for that Idea, I'm going to have to dig deeper if I want to find it.'_ Thane was walking back to the apartments, a scowl visible on his pale face.

Sayo hovered closely behind him, debating whether she should try to comfort him by patting his back. She finally decided not to and hovered next to him "Don't worry Sensei! Whatever you're looking for should be around here somewhere! There are a lot of books in the High school and College level Libraries that you haven't looked at yet. And you haven't tried Library Island yet either!"

Thane looked over at her and smiled at her encouragement "True, true… can't call it quits yet can I? Would you be willing to help me out Sayo-Chan? I could use it"

Sayo nodded her head enthusiastically "ye-Yes! Though I don't know how much help I could be…"

Thane patted her on the head "You'll be very helpful, trust me. And In return, I am willing to do anything you want of me, for Thane Mastizetai remembers his Debts!" Thane held his hand out and Saluted, though to who, Sayo wasn't certain. She lightly giggled at his behavior "Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow Sensei!"

The Ghost waved her hand at him with a smile. Thane waved back before he stopped and suddenly remembered something "Oh Sayo! I have a question for you!" Sayo stopped "What is it?"

"Where do you stay for the nights? Do you even sleep?"

Sayo thought about that for a second "yes I can sleep. But to answer your question, I stay in the classroom. Why do you ask?"

Thane suddenly felt guilty "Oh… so… is that where you stay all the time?"

Sayo nodded her head though she was confused "yes"

There was silence for a few minutes before Thane suddenly started to cry "Yo-You poor girl! Let me go get my sleeping bag and Pillow! I'll keep you company in the class from now on!"

Sayo grabbed a hold of his sleeve before he could take off "No sensei! As much as I would enjoy that, you shouldn't! You could get mistaken for a homeless bum again and thrown off of campus! Plus, there are no comfortable places to sleep in there!"

After a few more Minutes of forced restraint, Thane finally stopped and looked at her "are you sure? Cause I can always come and stay in the class."

Sayo shook her head "No, I'm sure… You are to kind to me Sensei. It makes me feel very happy, it makes all those years of being alone worth it if I found somebody as kind hearted as you."

Thane saw her smile warmly at him again, soft feelings stirring in his chest. He blushed and turned away "Only trying to help you out… it's what I do…" After another farewell, Thane saw Sayo drift off towards the school building until she was a small silver speck. Thane continued to wave at her even though she was already gone _' I really want to help that girl… even if only a little… I wonder if I can find her on any of the old class rosters… Might want to ask Eva if she knows anything as well…'_

Thane smiled at the school building and walked off, not knowing that he was being watched from the third story window by his silver friend. Sayo lightly waved at his disappearing figure until he was gone. She smiled at herself and put her hand to her face, a slight blush appearing on her face from thoughts of earlier. She hovered over to her seat and sat down, but bolted straight up and started to shiver "Ti-Ti-Tingly…"

**Xx back at home xX**

Thane stood outside the room he shared with his friends. He took a deep breath and called out "I'm coming in! If neither one of you are dressed, speak now or forever hold your peace!" not even waiting a second, Thane opened the door and was greeted by an angry Yuna.

Thane was confused by her anger "Uh…Hi?"

"Where in god's name have you been?-! Dinner was served over an hour ago!"

Thane was confused "Huh? Who cooked?"

"Me, you dolt! Who else?-!"

Thane was now very confused "You can cook?"

***Whack***

She swatted him with a spatula "get your butt in here and eat!"

Thane rubbed his head and walked into the room "yes mother…"

***WHACK***

another swat to the head "damn straight Skippy!"

Thane gave her a glare but looked back into the room while muttering under his breath "Violent hooligan…" he saw Akira sitting on the top bunk reading over today's material. He smiled at that _'at least she makes an effort.'_

"Stop undressing her with your eyes and go eat your Dinner, we got done long ago."

Thane started to stutter and Glare at Yuna "I was not undressing her with my eyes!"

Yuna simply shook her head "really? Then were you perhaps doi-"

"Alright! Alright! Geez… what's got your panties in a wad…" Thane went over and found his food in the Microwave. He started it up and sat at the table, waiting for his food to get done. Thane saw Akira get down and walk over to him, which piqued his interest "Hey Akira-san. How has your day been?"

She smiled "It's been fine. So where were you today?"

Thane pulled his food out of the Microwave "I was with the Library Trio, looking up something."

Akira felt just a little confused "How did you come to know those three so well?"

Thane wasn't paying attention to her and looked down at his Dish "wait… is Soba meant to be eaten warm?... Dammit! …Oh well…"

Akira waited a second before she tried to ask again "Um… Thane-san, how did you come to Know Nodoka-san, Yue-san, and Haruna-san?"

Thane looked up at her before he started to eat "I hung out with them after I left you guys. You know, last week. Did you think I sat down on a bench and twiddled my thumbs for the rest of the day?"

Akira laughed a little "ah no."

Thane laughed nervously _'good, cause that's what I mostly did when I ended up getting lost for the umpteenth time…'_

Yuna glared back at them "Are you going to eat it or not?-!"

Thane slightly jumped "Y-yes Ma'am!" Yuna turned back to the television, muttering something under her breath about television. Thane glanced over at her while he sucked down the noodles. He turned to Akira after about the tenth slurp "what's eating her?"

Akira sweated nervously "she forgot to record her favorite show, and you didn't show up to eat on time. Her time anyway"

Thane pointed at himself "wait, so this is partially my fault?"

Yuna glared back at them both "No, it's **entirely** your fault!"

Thane had his mouth open in shock "What? Ok, so maybe I am a little late for dinner… but how in the nine God's names is you missing** YOUR **show, **MY **fault?"

She turned around pointing an accusing finger at him "I asked you to set the recorder for 1:30 P.M. when you woke up! And you didn't!" Thane sat back in his chair and thought back to this morning.

**Xx 6:07 A.M, after the practice fight with Setsuna xX**

_Thane dragged his sore Hide through the door and fell on the couch in a heap, not even bothering to check and see if anybody else was in the room. Fortunately, Akira was in the shower and Yuna had just woken up. She turned to her Tired Sensei and gave him a smile "Jogging again Sensei?"_

_ Thane merely nodded his head, his mouth too tired to form words properly._

_ Yuna let a sigh escape her lips. Looks like she wasn't going to get to tease him about her new Bra today. She put her blazer on when she suddenly saw the time "aw crap!" She went over and started to shake Thane "Thane! Thane! I need you to set the recorder for 1:30 P.M OK? I'm going to be late for the early morning meeting as it is!" Thane simply gave a strange sound that sounded like an Ok. She patted him on his head "Thanks! I knew I could count on you!"_

**Xx Now xX**

Thane had a look of dread on his face "oh… That's what you where saying this morning…"

Yuna simply glared at him before she turned back to the T.V "I'll have to wait for the rerun! Or at least find a catalog!"

Thane was scratching his cheek in shame "sorry…"

Akira saw his sad Expression and felt sorry for him. She leaned in and whispered into his ear "It's alright. This wouldn't be the first time she's missed the show and I doubt it will be the last." She didn't notice that he was blushing from her breath tickling his ear, and he didn't say anything about it either. He looked over at the miffed Yuna "I still feel kinda bad now…"

Akira looked between the two "want me to talk to her?" Thane shook his head "No, I'll figure out how to apologize to her."

Akira nodded her head in understanding and went back to her bed, pulling the material out and studying. Thane sighed and cleaned his dishes. He went over to the desk and pulled out the teaching material for Tomorrow, but his thoughts where else were _'I wonder what I can use to make Yuna forgive me… I'll worry about it tomorrow. For now, I need to get this lesson plan set up for Negi…'_

**Xx The next day xX**

It was a fine and beautiful day at Mahora Academy. The sun was shining, the wind left a soft feeling on your cheeks and the temperature was perfect. A day meant to be enjoyed with friends and family.

"Heads Up Ako!" Yuna hit the ball into the air, which Ako hit up again with her Open palms

"Got it!" Makie bounced the ball on the top of her head until she got it to balance on her forehead "So it's been about a week since Negi-Kun's started teaching. What do you guys think of him so far?" Makie bounced it off her head like a seal, which caused Akira to hit it back into the air again "Hmmm… Not bad so far. Plus he has the whole cute thing going for him…"

Yuna smiled "he tries hard, that's for sure" Ako caught the ball and looked at her friend "But with Entrance exams coming up next year, I think we're going to need somebody who does more than just _try hard_."

Yuna shrugged her shoulders "aw, come on! This is an Escalator school. You don't really need to worry about it until University level" Makie giggled " Yeah, but Negi-kun is still ten! There's just some stuff you can't discuss with him like you can an older teacher, like say… Thane-san!"

Yuna smiled mischievously "yeah, and I bet there's load of stuff you can ask him. He probably has loads of _experience_. Right Akira?"

Akira thought about that when she suddenly remembered the incident at the baths and felt her face flush "Um… I don't know… he seems like a nice person to talk to…"

Ako bounced the ball in the air "yeah, he is a really nice person. Defiantly a guy you can talk to if you have a problem"

Yuna lightly scowled "Yeah, nice. But he forgets to set stuff when you ask him to…"

Akira looked at her friend and shook her head "It was an honest mistake Yuna, he was tired yesterday morning."

Both Ako and Makie had a confused look on their faces "What are you guys talking about?" Yuna's face lit up in realization "oh yeah! You guys don't know that Thane-san is staying with us do you?"

"EHHH?" Makie and Ako gave them shocked faces.

Akira picked up the ball and passed it to Yuna "It was something the Dean assigned on short notice, so he may not stay in the room for very long" Yuna passed the ball to Makie "Though I'm kinda hoping he stays. He can do all kinds of things, like cooking, cleaning up, help us with the school material. Though he sometimes can be a bit of a slob and miss some stuff."

Makie tried to catch it but missed "Sounds cool. But I think I would prefer to have Negi-kun in my room rather than Thane-san. Thane-san seems kinda scary. Where Negi-kun is really cute, like a little brother. I could be his Big sister! Don't you guys think I would be good at that?"

Makie picked up the ball, but was suddenly overshadowed; causing her to look up "Not better than me, you wouldn't"

all the girls were surprised "You! You're-!"

**Xx Teachers Office, middle school division xX**

Thane looked out the window of the teacher lounge with a scowl on his face _'why in the name of the Nine am I stuck in here and not out there? Stupid grading…'_ Thane looked back down at the large stack of Papers on his right and the smaller stack to his left and sighed. Negi, who was seated across from him, smiled at him "it's alright Thane-san. We'll get these done in no time!"

Thane gave him a look that said otherwise "Uh-hu… you keep telling yourself that…" Thane went back to grading papers.

Negi gave his assistant a nervous laugh "Negi-Sensei." Negi turned his head and saw the ever-so-Buxom Shizuna standing in front of his desk "Ah! Yes Shizuna-san?"

She walked up next to him "I figured now was a good a time as any to ask… do you think you're ready to fly Solo?"

Thane perked his head up and saw that Negi had a confused expression on his face "Um… that's how I usually fly…"

Thane did a face palm "She meant as a Teacher Negi…"

"Oh! No, not yet. Most of the girls don't look at me as an Authority figure because of, you know, my age… I mean, Thane-san has more authority over them then I ever did."

"*Pffft* based on what? I don't think any of them really see me as more than a pretty face to look at. No better off then you actually…"

Shizuna lightly giggled "Well, I guess that really can't be helped…" Thane simply shrugged his shoulders when the sound of a sliding door… _sliding_ causes the three teachers present to look at the door way.

"WAAAAAAAH! Negi-Sensei!" Ako came through the door first followed by a crying Makie "Take Charge of the Situation Negi-sensei!"

Thane got up from his seat along with Negi "What's wrong girls?"

Ako spoke up first "There's a fight happening on the school grounds!" Makie showed her hand, which had a large bruise on it "look at these bruises! Please help us you two!"

Negi was shocked "Who would do such a thing!-?"

Thane crossed his arms "Who attacked you?"

"The high school girls!" Ako looked back and forth between the two teachers, waiting to see what they would do.

Negi nodded his head "Let's go!" Thane seemed just a little more skeptical _'oh, I can feel something bad happening in the future…'_

**Xx back outside xX**

"**SENIOR STUDENT ATTACK!**" A tall brown haired girl spiked a volley ball at Yuna, who covered her face to stop the blow. Akira jumped forward and deflected the ball with her arm, but the force of the blow knocked her flat on her butt.

"Akira!" Yuna ran over to help her friend up.

The Brown haired girl laughed "You see? You're just wittle babies compared to us High schoolers"

She grabbed Yuna by her shirt collar and started to drag her off "Now crawl aside!" Yuna started to flail madly "Let go of me ya Amazon! We were here first!" Akira was about to Intervene when the sounds of small voice shouted out "You heard her! Now let go of her!"

Akira turned and saw Negi running toward them followed closely by Thane, who looked rather annoyed. Negi Finally stopped and started to wave his arms cutely. Thane gave him a nervous look from behind _'hard to look Authoritative when you're that cute… He is so dead…'_

"How dare you pick on my students! I'm there instructor! Don't make me angry! Yo-You wouldn't like me when I am angry!"

Thane watched as the girls started to whisper amongst themselves giving Negi some looks, some giggling, others eyeing him with a cute fondness. Thane took a few steps back _'here it comes…'_

Negi noticed their looks and took a step back himself "WH-what are you-"

The girls charged forward and nabbed poor Negi "isn't he adorable!"

"I had heard there was a ten year old teacher! But I didn't believe it!"

"I call dibs on him first!"

"Me! Me! I had him first!"

Thane could only shake his head _'saw this one coming…'_ he sighed and was about to do something when a dodge ball whizzed by his head and hit one of the girls in the back of the head

"Take a cold shower you hags!"

Thane turned and saw Asuna and Ayaka ready and poised for a fight. Ayaka stepped forward with an arrogant smirk "This field is reserved for Class 2-A use. You **Old** Ladies have your own hangout. So take off before we start to get physical. Wouldn't want to throw out your backs now would we?"

One of the girls scowled at her "What'd you say!-? Tough talk for a toddler!"

"Tough talk for an Ancient-! Oof!" Asuna pushed the class rep to the side roughly "Step aside Ayaka. You guys get out of here! Just because you're our seniors doesn't mean that you can push us around whenever you like!"

The Brown haired girl smiled smugly "You may talk big, but you're still a kid." She looked them both over "Asuna Kagurazaki and Ayaka Yukihiro. You have some high Rep in the middle school division, but that means nothing to us high schoolers." She placed her hand on her Hip and put one of the most arrogant smirk on her face that Thane had ever seen

_'I thought that only the nobles in Estoria could be that puffed up, guess pride fills all corners of the Multiverse…'_

"We do what we want, when we want to whomever we want to. Got it?"

Thane could detect Asuna's Patience meter already wearing thin. The Older girl pulled Negi in close and placed her lips dangerously close to his cheek "And we want to do things with cutie here" Much to Thane's surprise, It wasn't Asuna who lost her cool, but Ayaka. And she was pissed "GET YOUR HANDS OFFA HIM YA HAG!" all hell broke loose and Akira knew it.

She dashed forward to stop it from coming to blows when she saw Thane dash forward.

**"CEASE AND DESIST!"**

All the girls instantly halted in their tracks. Thane was standing between the High schoolers and class 2-A, and he didn't have a happy look on his face. He turned toward Asuna and Ayaka "You two! Do **not** let yourselves be goaded into a fight! Allowing yourselves to get angered by words alone only proves a point on how childish you're behaving!" Ayaka could feel the sting of truth behind those words and Asuna simply turned her head, trying to hide her anger behind a mask of annoyance.

"However…" Thane turned his attention towards the High schoolers "**acting **like a child is perhaps even worse! Yes, you girls are older. However, that shows that you need to Act. Your. Age. **Not** like a bunch of grade school bullies. Age means nothing if the attitude is less than adequate." Thane saw most of the High schoolers turn their head away from his angry glare, though a few of them saw fit to give him a defiant stare, particularly the brown haired one "And who Might you be?"

"The name is Thane Mastizetai, assistant teacher to Negi-sensei. Meaning I do have some Authority here" Thane saw the girl bite her thumbnail in frustration. He continued to give them a stern look while keeping his internal thoughts where they belong _'please leave, please leave, please leave, . I don't like the glares they're giving me…'_

He saw the girl give a curt bow "I apologize Sensei…"

Thane wathced her and the other girls leave with maybe a few glares in his direction. _'Great… I made an enemy out of High school girls… I'd rather fight a dragon… again…'_

Thane saw Negi looking at him with some awe and respect. He went over and patted him on the head "Um… Thanks for the Help Thane-san! I wish I could have handled it as well as you did…"

Thane gave him a grin "Don't worry about it. This kind of thing comes from experience dealing with younger children… and adults that act like children…"

"You handled that rather well Thane-kun!" Thane and Negi turned and saw Takamichi walking toward them with a friendly wave. Negi lit up while Thane gave the older man an annoyed look "hey! Thanks for stepping in to help there! I thought they were going to mug me!"

Takamichi laughed "you were handling it so well that I thought better of it." Takamichi turned toward Negi and patted him on the head "Like Thane said, this kind of thing comes with experience. You'll learn soon enough"

Negi looked between both of them and nodded _'they both are such good teachers! I'll make them into my role models!'_

Thane turned toward the girls and sighed _'Gods I hope I never have to do that again…'_ He saw Akira come over with a worried look "Are you alright?" Thane smiled at her "yeah, I'm fine. Just have to calm my nerves, that's all. I'm more worried about you and the others however. You took a nasty hit from what I saw and Makie and Ako had some bruises and scrapes as well"

Akira slightly blushed "I'm fine. Just fell that's all. The others are alright as well"

Thane smiled at her "Good to hear! Well, you and the others better get ready for Gym. Catch you later!"

Akira waved at him as he left and felt herself sigh "Thank you…"

**Xx Gym xX**

"Thane-sensei was pretty cool back there don't you think?" Ako said as she undressed.

Yuna scratched her chin "Now there was something I didn't expect! I didn't think he was really that dependable! He surprised me!"

Akira smiled at her friends "He was pretty cool out there…"

Konoka looked over at Asuna "Did something happen?" Asuna quickly got undressed with annoyance apparent in her movement "The Damned Seniors were trying to flex some muscle. You know, grab territory"

The Narutaka twins popped out of nowhere to deliver their input "Ah, again?"

"They've been pulling that on everybody recently"

Yuna lightly chuckled " poor Negi really didn't do much out there"

Makie put her Gym shoes on and sat back down on the desk "he's only ten, He really can't help it you know…"

Ayaka started to fume "What happened to 'he's adorable!'?-! Seriously…what's with you girls? Making fun of Sensei like that…"

Yuna and Ako laughed nervously "Come on Iincho, It's only true…"

"He is a Kid remember?" Ako started to lightly blush "But seeing Thane-sensei in action reminds you of how a real teacher should act."

Yuna nodded her head "yeah, Negi's Cuteness can only get him so far"

Akira, after hearing all of this, decided to speak out "Thane-sensei, from what I know, has decided to put his trust into Negi-sensei and help him along. I think that would speak for itself on how much Negi-sensei can grow in his capacity as a Teacher"

Everybody looked at her with some shock but started to agree with her "yeah… there is some truth to that"

Yuna nodded her head "Always the voice of reason Akira!"

Akira lightly blushed and waved her hands in front of her "O-Oh… I was just saying what I thought… that's all…"

Asuna interrupted their conversation as she waved for everybody to come along "Alright already. Volleyball on the roof court, so let's get going" "Alright!" was the reply she got.

The girls ascended the stairs to the roof and was greeted by a baffling sight "Wha-!"

" What the-!"

The Brown haired girl from earlier waved her hand at the class "Hi there! Fancy meeting you here!"

Asuna did everything she could from charging forward "What are you doing here High school class 2-D ?-!"

Eiko (for that is her name) Smiled at them "We had a free period, so we came here to play Volleyball"

Asuna was practically yelling now "We're Having Gym class Now!"

Eiko looked at her innocently "Oh my! Then it appears that we have a double booking!"

Yuna was practically shaking in anger "You guys…!"

Asuna, however was more focused on something else "Negi? What are you doing over there!-?"

Aforementioned English teacher was currently struggling to escape from the grasp of one of the seniors "I was supposed to be subbing for your Gym teacher when these Amazons found me!-!"

"if you're here, where's Thane-sense-"

Aforementioned Assistant teacher was currently having a pleasant chat with one of the High school girls who had less then chaste intentions reflected in her eyes. Asuna, Akira, and Yuna did a comical style fall "What are you doing flirting with the Enemy!"

Thane looked over and shrugged his shoulders "Hey! I'm not flirting! She had a question and I had an answer! I'm a teacher for Golgirath's sake!"

Yuna was angrily pointing at him "You're supposed to be **our** teacher!"

Thane threw his arms into the air "**what do you want from me!-?** God woman! Quiet biting me in the ass!"

Asuna was seriously trying not to think of Homicidal thoughts of throwing him over the edge of the building.

Eiko cleared her throat so she could get the attention back on her "*ah-hem* Anyway, we were here first, so the rest of you can clear out Asuna Kagurazaki."

"You did this on purpose! You guys have your own court! Why come and use ours!"

Eiko waved her hands at them "so we can see your wittle baby faces all the better!"

That got the girls riled up "Oh that is it!"

"You are going down!"

Thane saw the ensuing blood bath that was about to happen and started to step in when the High school girl grabbed his arm "Wait Sensei! You haven't clearly described the Construct of a Calabi-Yau yet!" Thane gave the girl a strange look "isn't that kind of theory for Physicist's?" Unknown to him, Akira was getting just a little angry at the High school senior and how close she was to Him. Setsuna was also feeling something about her sparring partner being manhandled like that. Sayo was hovering close by, feeling something odd in her chest when she saw her Pale sensei and his arm in a woman's grasp.

Negi was still struggling to free himself _'I got to stop this somehow! But Takamichi isn't here… maybe Thane could!-"_ He turned his head and Saw that Thane was trying to remove the girl from his arm, and not succeeding at it. Negi shook his head _'no! I need to solve this somehow on my own! I can't keep relying on him to help me when things get out of hand!'_ Negi felt the girls' hair brush against his nose, causing a reaction "Ah-!"

Thane instantly froze and turned toward Negi _'Oh shizz! He's going to blow somebody's clothes off!'_

"ACHOO!" the blast of wind was so strong that Negi had cracks Appear where his feet where anchored, plus it stopped all the girls from fighting.

Thane pulled himself out of the girls grasp and rushed over _'well that's a first…no clothes flying everywhere'_

Negi lightly brushed his nose "Phew…" Negi saw that he was free again and quickly spoke up, an Idea coming to mind "Excuse me everybody! But Violence is no way to resolve an argument!" Everybody was looking at the young teacher, not quite sure what to make of the current situation. Thane simply watched from behind Negi _'well I'll be… I think he's got this under control now.'_

Negi cleared his throat and held up his hand like a teacher would "How about we do this? Since you all like sports so much, I suggest that this be settled…sportingly"

Thane was the only one who laughed at the pun, which got him a few stares. He simply shrugged his shoulders "What? It was funny…"

Negi continued "This way, we all get some exercise and nobody has to fight."

The High Schooler quickly agreed "Fine with me! If us Seniors Lose, we leave peacefully and never bother you again, Fair?"

Ako and a few of the other Girls quickly spoke out "Fair!-? You're like, twice our size!"

Eiko shrugged her shoulders "And that's our fault how exactly?"

Asuna came up next to Negi and gave him a look "What are we going to do now professor?" Negi scratched the back of his head "Uh. Lemme think…" Thane whispered into his ear "Think faster boy genius!" Negi lightly bashed his right hand into his left "Ah-ha! Ok girls, I never said it had to be Volleyball. Taking your Differences into account, How about Dodge ball?"

Eiko Picked up a ball and twirled it on her finger, her look of arrogance causing a few of the 2-A girls to glare at her "Fine with us Sensei, we'll even give them a handicap of 11 extra players!"

Asuna gave her a confidant look "You're on!"

"You'll be sorry!"

Thane however, was thinking about something _'dodge ball… hum… I feel like where being set up…Oh well, Must be my imagination.'_

"Buuuuuuuuuut…" Suddenly, The Senior grabbed Negi and pulled him into an embrace "if **we** win, Negi-Sensei will be our teacher."

Negi looked up at her "I do?" Suddenly, the 2-A girl seemed just a little more driven, Thane sweated nervously "Ooooooh I hope you guys know what you're doing…"

**Xx A few Minutes of preparation later xX**

Thane stood Tall, a fierce fire coming over his face as he pointed to his left "In this corner! We have High school class 2-D of the saint Ursula High school division!"

"And in this corner!" he pointed at the right "We have the Mahora Middle school division Class 2-A!"

Negi gave Thane a confused look "Thane-san, What are you doing?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "I dunno. Felt right for some reason"

"Go, Go, let's go 2-A! Fight, fight!"

Thane looked back and saw the Cheerleading squad doing there cheering with Chachamaru launching fireworks close by. His eyes were on the cheerleaders and there flipping skirts, with just a little drool coming out of his mouth _'That dark haired one is pretty sexy looking… I think her name is Madoka.'_ Thane moved his eyes and saw That Mana, Setsuna, and Kaede were sitting out. Something about them saying it wouldn't be fair otherwise.

"Ready, set…GO!" On go, Thane instinctively jumped out of the way, and a good thing to else he would have been the first casualty. Unfortunately, the balls second Target was Negi, who didn't hear it coming and got smacked in the back of the head "Guk!"

the ball bounced off, but Asuna jumped up and caught it "Your still in Negi, I caught the rebound!" Asuna launched the ball and got one of the girls out.

Thane was checking to see if Negi was ok "Negi Boy! Negi! Are you ok? How many fingers am I holding up!"

Thane pulled up two fingers and watched as Negi's spinning eyes tried to focus "Six!" Thane looked at his fingers and then back to Negi "Eh, I was never a student at math. HE'S GOOD!"

Thane stood up and shouted out "LET'S SHOW EM HOW IT'S DONE GIRLS!"

Asuna threw her arm into the air "HELL YEAH!"

Negi, finally having recovered, started waving his arms madly "Great! Do it before I get killed ok?"

"One out on The High school team! Ten members remaining!" Asuna and most of the Girls from 2-A were starting to feel pretty pumped, save four girls in particular. The sports girls gave Thane an anxious look and went over to Negi

"Negi-Kun!"

Negi turned his head and saw the Makie with a fearful expression "what's wrong Makie?"

Yuna was the next one to look slightly apprehensive "Why is Thane here?-!"

Negi scratched his head "he asked to be put in. Is there something wrong?"

Ako started to flail her arms "Wrong!-? Have you ever played a game with him before?-!"

Negi shook his head "No, why?"

Akira stepped in "you see Sensei, the thing is-"

"Move move move!"

Everybody on the 2-A side started scrabbling to get away from Eiko, who was ready to chuck the ball straight at them. Negi didn't hear what they were going to say as he tried to regain control " Everybody, Don't panic!"

the Senior Girl stopped and lightly lobbed the ball at them "Aw, go ahead and panic"

the Ball lightly bounced off of Haruna, Fuka, and Chizuru.

"Three outs!"

Asuna looked over at them in shocked confusion "How'd she do that?"

Eiko lobbed the ball again "Kinda like this" This time the ball bounced off of Satsuki, Hakase, Natsumi, and Asakura, though not necessarily in that order. Ayaka started to get angry "Girls! It's Dodge ball! You might try dodging!"

Asakura spoke up in her defense "Hey! There's too many of us to move around!"

Suddenly, everybody had the same thought, everybody except Thane. He had picked up the ball and had an unreadable expression on his face, which caused the sports girl to take a few steps back. Their attention came back to their side when Asuna started talking again "Crap! Having this many people on the team is a disadvantage! Not a handicap!"

Ayaka started to Fume at her "Then 22 people doesn't really help us now does it ya dope!"

"Hey! I didn't see you making any complaints about the conditions!"

the senior started to laugh "Ha ha! So you finally caught on! Too late to realize, but good for you!" her smug look sent Asuna's anger levels sky high. She nabbed the ball from Thanes grasp "What are you doing staring at the thing! Give it here!"

She chucked the ball straight at her with a mighty heave. But the resulting catch stunned everybody "Ouch… A for effort, but your form sucked"

She pulled the ball back with a glint "Now let's put the slowest ones out of their misery!"

everybody scrambled but it did them no good. The ball hit Fumika in the back of the head "Ouch! Fumika!" Negi started to flail "You hit her in the head!"

Eiko picked up the ball and pointed out into the crowd "Your point being? Shaggy hair! Your next!"

Nodoka started to flail about while Yuna started to move forward "Somebody do something!"

The ball flew straight at her and she covered her head to brace for impact. She never felt it. Nodoka opened her eyes and saw Thane holding the still rotating ball in his right hand, his face obscured by his loose hair. However, where everybody was relaxed, Akira, Yuna, Makie, and Ako looked very fearful. Eiko didn't notice and smiled smugly "To bad girls, but you never had a chance! Time to reveal our true Identities!" they threw off their blazers to reveal there sportswear "For we are the Mahora Black Lil-!"

***VOOOOOM!***

** *WA-PING!-!-!*** The sudden sound of one of the high school girls going down faster than a brick on pavement caught everybody's attention. Slowly they turned to who was last holding the ball and saw his hands smoking. Thane was shivering violently, which caused Asuna to back away slowly

"Th-Thane…Sensei?"

nobody noticed that poor Makie rocking back and forth whispering to herself "Don't kill me, don't kill me, don't kill me…"

Thane suddenly stood up with a crazy glint in his eye and a savage grin on his face "H-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L YEAH BITCHES! HOW YOU LIKE THOSE APPLES HUH!-? AND WHEN I SAY APPLES I REALLY MEAN BALLS! SUCK ON THAT!"

everybody simultaneous reaction "Huh?"

Thane started to swing his arm around " WE HEAR TO TALK OR WE HEAR TO FIGHT HUH!-!-?"

Suddenly, the high school girls didn't feel so confident and all of 2-A were slowly backing away from the crazy teacher.

Yuna was shaking her head "What have we unleashed…"

Akira tapped a shivering Negi's shoulder "this is why we don't play games with him. He gets a little extreme…"

Negi turned his head toward her "h-How extreme?"

Ako spoke up "well…"

**Xx a few days ago xX**

"Hey Thane! You ever play Monopoly before?" Yuna was holding a board game in her right hand and pointing at it.

Thane looked up from his work and shook his head "Never heard of it"

Ako and Makie stopped doing their homework and looked up at him "really? I heard it was really big In America" Makie clapped her hands together "How about we take a break and show you how to play?"

Thane sat back in His chair "alright, sounds like fun! But you're not getting out of your homework"

Makie snapped her fingers "Shoot…" Thane smiled and looked up at Akira "Wanna play Akira?"

She shook her head "No, but I'll watch" Yuna opened the box and set it on the Table "Alright! Let's play!"

**Xx Twenty Minutes later xX**

Thane was staring at the board with nothing but malice. He had achieved little to no property and was down to his last fifty. "Your turn Thane Uf fu fu fu…" Yuna was laughing at him and for good reason, she had almost all the property bought up. Thane grabbed the dice and rolled them in his hands "Come ooooooooooooon lady luck…" he threw the dice and got a three.

He moved his piece right onto… Time square. Yuna's property. She started to laugh "ha ha! With my Hotel in place, you now owe me a **ton** of cash! Fork it over!" she held out her hand expectantly.

Thane looked at the board and then to her hand "I do huh…" He looked at the game for a few more seconds before he flipped it up "YOU SEE MAKIE! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE MINDLESS MASSES TRADE TIME SQUARE FOR PHUCKING DISNEYLAND!-!-!-!-!" everybody in the room had their arms up to shield themselves from his savage verbal onslaught, except for Makie, who was crying "But I like Disneyland…"

Thane threw his arms into the air "NOBODY CARES !" he stormed out the door screaming that he was going to take a bath and that the American Government was going to be Chinas bitch if they were stupid enough to pull this shit in real life.

There was silence in the room. Yuna looked back to Ako "Does this mean I don't get paid?" Akira shook her head "he who aims for both rabbits, get none…"

**Xx Now xX**

Negi was now trembling in fear "I-I had no Idea…"

Yuna sighed "that wasn't even the worst of it. You should have been there when we played soccer. He fractured poor Toko-Sempai's ankle." Now everybody was feeling just a little scared, even the seniors. Thane was still spinning his arm "COME O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-N-N-N-N-N-N-N! LET'S GET THIS BALL ROLLING!"

Eiko shook her head to psych herself out, though her knees where still knocking "Th-That doesn't matter! We'll take you out one way or another!" she hurled the ball back and chucked it forward at him. Thane stepped aside and laughed "THAT ALL YOU GOT!-!-?" The ball continued toward everybody in the back, who also dodged it. However, the ball hit the score board and bounced toward Negi. This time, he saw it coming and ducked, causing the ball to hit Thane's side.

"OUT! OUT ON REBOUND!"

Thane stopped being scary looking for a moment and looked down at the ball. "THAT'S BULLSHIT! That didn't count! If this was a **real **dodge ball game there would be no such thing as a rebound!"

Negi, who had calmed down a second, dared approached the raging horror, seemingly forgetting the story earlier, and tried to calm him down "Ok Thane, I think you need to admit you're out…"

Thane turned toward Negi and scowled. Suddenly, dozens of Dodge balls were in his left arm and he started to chuck them at poor Negi's head, who started running around madly "TRYING TO BACK TALK TO YOUR ELDERS YOU LITTLE SNOT?-!"

**Xx Much restraining and concussions later xX**

Thane was sitting next to Setsuna with a scowl on his face "This is bullshit… Kicked out by my own team!"

Setsuna shook her head "Maybe lobbing balls at every person in your line of fire wasn't the best of ideas, you think of that? At least you knocked a few of the seniors out…" Thane stood up and started to shout, not listening to her. "TRAITORS! EVERY ONE OF YA! Back in my house, you know what we do to traitors! We Whip em! That's what!"

This caught the attention of Haruna "Oh really? Do tell…"

Thane glared at her "Back off!"

Haruna simply shrugged her shoulders "Alright, I'll ask for the kinky details later." Thane slumped back down next To Setsuna and started to pout "this sucks… only trying to help" Setsuna patted her partner on his back "You did… in your own way…"

"Ok! Game resumes!"

Eiko stood front and center "Alright! We may be down by two more members, but we still have the advantage of being the Kanto Regional Champions! You babies are going down!" Thane's reign of terror was still apparent on most of their faces, so it wasn't quite that convincing. However, 2-A wasn't feeling that much better either. Ayaka strode forward with pride and a lot of flowers flowing off her "ha! Champions or not, we will never falter! So you better give up now you old crones!"

Eiko started to grind her teeth in anger "That's it! You're going down! Vivi! Shii! Get into position for the Triangle attack!"

Most of the 2-A girls started giggling "_'triangle attack'_? They name there Maneuvers?" Ayaka stepped forward "Humph! Back off everybody! **I** will lead the defense! Stay back Negi-Sensei!"

"Take this!" Ayaka squinted, not seeing that she had tossed the ball to her friend "And this!"

Ayaka jumped over to the side in reflex, and right into the ball as it hit the last girl's hands "And another one bites the dust!"

everybody else "Oh nice _'protecting'_ Iincho!"

Ayaka held her head in her hand in a daze "It was… to fast… what could a triangle attack look like..?"

Konoka and Ako both did a tsukkomi "we're thinking triangular"

Thane had his head buried in his hands, shaking in disbelief. He suddenly jumped up and started yelling "we'd be winning this if I was out there!" Yuna shouted back at him "We'd be **dead** if you were out here! So sit down Sports psycho!"

Thane folded his legs and dropped to the ground, gritting his teeth "I am not a psycho…" Setsuna patted him on the back again. Thane looked over at her "So why aren't you out there? You could wipe the floor with them if you wanted"

Setsuna merely shook her head "I don't want to waste time doing this. Protecting Konoka Ojou-sama is my only concern."

Thane scratched his head "Then wouldn't it be better if you were out there… you know… protecting?"

She stared intently at the field "Who says I'm not?"

Thane saw her flick her wrist and a small pebble fly into the direction of the incoming ball flying at Konoka, causing it to miss her but hit Chisame instead. Thane smiled and shrugged his shoulders "It's almost an obsession… but I like that about you." Setsuna blushed a little bit but kept her eyes trained on the field.

Thane looked back over at the score board and cringed _'11 to 10… they caught up… this isn't looking good…'_ Thane's thoughts were shared amongst most of the Girls of 2-A. Ako looked over at her friends "they caught up already…" Makie started to fidget " \at this rate, where going to lose… maybe we should bring Thane back in…"

Thane leaped into the air with his arms raised "YES!"

everybody else "NO! Do you **want** to die!-?"

Thane started to grit his teeth "Bunch of jerks!"

Eiko was smiling "Ha! The only ones left are the shrimps and spazzes! You're the only one left with any talent Kagurazaki!" Asuna held herself in a defensive position, waiting to see what she would do. "Shii! Maneuver X-2!" the one called Shii bounced the ball into the air "Got it!" Eiko leaped into the air "**DEATH BLOW! SOLAR STRIKE!**" Asuna tried to look up into the air to follow her, but the sunlight was too bright and she covered her eyes with her arm "Gah! Sunlight's in my eyes!" the girl spiked the ball and it connected with a loud Ping

"Ouch!"

"Asuna!" Negi tried to dash forward to help her. Thane slightly cringed _'ouch… that sounded painful…'_ Thane saw Eiko spike the ball again and hit Asuna in the arm "What the-!-?"

Negi stopped in his tracks "She hit her twice! Why'd she do that?" Ako looked like she wanted to cry "That's not fair! Cheater!"

"Shut up! Victory is victory no matter wh-!" Suddenly a cleated shoe came flying out of nowhere and smacked her upside the head. "Ow! What the-?"

everybody turned and saw That Thane was being restrained by both Mana and Setsuna, and he had a nasty look on his face "WHY YOU LITTLE-! THAT WAS ABSOLUTELY UNCALLED FOR! YOU WANNA FIGHT GIRLY!-? HERE'S YOUR COMPETITION RIGHT OVER HERE! WHEN I GET OUTTA HERE I'M SO GONNA TAKE THAT BALL AND SHOVE IT WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHI-!" he never got to complete that sentence, seeing as Setsuna covered his mouth and they finally managed to drag him away from the field.

Negi quickly went over to see If Asuna was Ok " A-Asuna-san! Are you alright!" She held up her arm to examine the nasty bruise she had "Eh, I've seen better days." Negi looked over at the high schoolers with as angry a scowl as he could get on his face, which wasn't very angry looking _'we've been trying to solve this peacefully all day! And they go around and do all those nasty Things to everybody! Now we settle this __**my**__ way!'_

"_Ras Tel magi-_ ***whack*!**_"_

"Ow!"

Negi looked over and saw Asuna giving him a glare "Knock that off ya twerp! This was your bright Idea, remember? You where all like _'Ohhh fair sports competition!'_"

Negi flailed about cutely "Bu- But-!" She cut him off before he could say anything "How's it fair if we win by cheating? Or are you only Honorable when it's convenient? If you're a real man, you win fair and square!" Negi looked up at her in shock "A-Asuna-san…"

"LET ME GO SAKURAZAKI! I'M GONNA TEAR THAT GIRL A NEW ONE!"

Negi and Asuna looked over and saw Thane trying to get out of her hold. Asuna lightly smiled "I better go over there and try to get him to calm down, else he really **will **tear that senior a new one"

"Asuna-san…" Ako was looking at her as she left

"Sorry guys! It's up to you now!"

Thane stopped struggling and looked at Asuna, causing Both Mana and Setsuna to finally get a breather. "You Ok Asuna?" She looked up at him "Ah, I'm fine. Just a scrape. You make a big fuss over nothing"

Thane reached over and grabbed her arm and set her down "wha-?"

The pale youth grabbed the first aid kit and got to work "nothing or not, it's my responsibility to make sure you gals are ok. Can't help it if I see some Bitch act like she owns the place hurting my friends and I want to snap back."

Asuna smiled at him "a lot of Honor in your blood I'm guessing?" Thane grabbed the gauze "Nope, just a paternal instinct. Got a few of my own remember?"

the sound of Negi's voice gets both their attention and causes them to look out on the field "we don't give up! Not while we have a game to win! Face forward! Use your skills! If you run away, they'll just nail you from behind! Let's give it our best!" Everybody looked at Negi in stunned silence. Ako lightly blushed at Him "Negi-sensei…"

"Yeah! If we lose then they take Negi-sensei away from us!" Makie stepped forward, a new fire of determination burning in her eyes, Yuna grabbed her right arm and started to stretch "hell yeah! We can't just give up!"

"You know it!"

Setsuna and Mana simply leaned against the wall, a small smile on their faces. "Go Go 2-A!" The cheerleaders started getting pumped up. Thane sat back and smiled "Huh… Good job Negi… YOU SHOW EM GALS! ELSE I'M COMING IN THERE!" Everybody suddenly felt that their lives were now also on the line with those words.

Eiko simply laughed "ha! You guys sure don't know when to give up! That wasn't a complement by the way." Eiko gave Negi a wink "Oh Negi-Sensei, you better start getting a lesson plan set up for the High scho-"

"Five second rule!"

the seniors slightly blanched "Huh?"

Nodoka spoke out again "According to the official rules, you can't hold the ball for more than five seconds!" Yue held her hand out "Lost your turn, now fork it over"

"Up yours! You just made that up!"

"Where'd you runts get a rule book anyway?"

Nodoka held up the official rule book "From the library"

"Guh!"

"Nice work Honya-Chan!"

Thane, threw his arms into the air "Oh, so **now** we're sticking to the rules!-? I call gender inequality!"

Evangeline smacked him upside the head "Will you shut up already?"

Nodoka threw the Ball to Akira "Go Akira-san!" Akira nodded her head "Uh-hu"

Thane was rubbing the back of his head and lightly whispered to himself "Passing the ball is also against the rules, but I don't think anybody cares…"

Setsuna shook her head "You are petty"

"Who asked ya!"

Akira had her eyes set on the girl who had been grabbing Thanes arm and hit her with all the force she could muster "OUT!"

"YES!" Akira was lightly smiling on the inside, though she didn't know why.

"Don't get cocky from a weak throw like that!" One of the seniors threw the ball straight for Ako. In Hind sight, that probably wasn't a good Idea on her part. "Un…Hiya!" She kicked the ball back with double the force and got another out for the team.

Thane saw the ball fly high and pointed at it "YUNA! AIRBORN!"

Yuna looked up and jumped "SLAM DUNK!" she spiked the ball and got another out.

Thane fist pumped "Nice One 'Air' Yuna!"

Eiko reached up to grab the falling ball "I got-!" suddenly a ribbon wrapped around the ball "-It?"

Makie started flailing her ribbon around and got a few more outs "And you were crabbing at us to stick to the rules!" when the ball finally got released, Ku Fei and Chao Lingshin stood back to back and started to charge Chi "China-!" They got their hands ready "DOUBLE ATTACK!" They launched the ball with a straight punch and got a few more outs.

Thane started to stamp his feet "OH COME ON! There using frikken martial arts! Why am I not allowed in there?" Yuna pointed at him "Cause you pitch like Nolan Ryan on steroids!" Thane scowled " I don't even know who that is!"

"Times up! Game over!"

Thane looked at the score board and saw the current score was 10 to 3. Thane jumped into the air "2-A WINS!" there was a lot of cheering coming from the 2-A side.

The seniors didn't look to happy about it "We…We lost? No way!" she glared at Asuna "She gave them Hope…" She grabbed the ball "So I'll return the favor with a concussion!"

Thane and Negi saw her spike the ball at Asuna

"ASUNA!"

"Watch out Asuna-san!"

Thane rushed forward, but Negi beat him to it and caught the ball. Thane noticed that it started rotating in the opposite direction rapidly "That…" Negi launched it at the High school senior "WAS UNACCEPTABLE!" She caught the ball, but the Air magic Imbedded into the ball ripped her and her teammates clothe to shreds, revealing their Underwear.

Thane stood there for a moment and then pulled out a camera with an Evil glint and started to take pictures "HA HA! What will the sports world say about this scandal!" they quickly ran away with Thane still taking pictures of their backside "THIS ISN"T OVER BRATS!" after a few more pictures from Thane and Asakura reaching for her own Camera, They finally left/fled.

"WOW! That was awesome Negi-Sensei! What was that!"

Negi started to blubber around "Ma-Ma-!"

"Ma-? Majestic shot? Well whatever it was, it was awesome! You should have used it sooner!"

Negi was rattling '_Awooo after all my talk of violence and what not, I turn around and use magic on them…'_

"Hey! Negi Brat! Didn't I just warn you?-!" Negi covered his head when He saw Asuna raise her hand "Aiee!" he didn't feel a smack, however. Only a light tap to his head. Negi looked up and saw Asuna smiling at him "Well… I'll let it slide today, since you did save me and all…"

Thane smiled and picked Negi up and tossed him into the air "GOOD GOING NEGI BOY!"

"We beat the High school girls!"

"Three cheers for Negi!"

Unknown to the Class, Takahata and Shizuna were watching from the door way. Shizuna lightly giggled "It looks like the both of them are doing quite well!"

"Ha ha! But Negi-kun seems more like a friend then an Instructor."

Shizuna raised her eyebrow in a quizzical manner "Then what about Thane-san?"

Takamichi scratched his Chin "Hum… I think something along the lines of a Brother/ playmate. But it may be something else entirely though." Both teachers watched the celebration for a little while longer before they left. The very next day, Both Thane and Negi had been asked to join the Dodge ball team, both of which kindly refused. But that's a story for a different day.

**Xx several hours after the game xX**

Thane was sitting on one of the park benches, lazily observing the random people passing by. But only his eyes were following, His mind was elsewhere_ 'I know I said That I was going to Apologize on my own to Yuna, but I don't think a simple, __**I'm sorry**__, Is gonna cut it…'_ Thane leaned forward and placed his chin on his fist, and stared out into open space _'Maybe if I get her something… but what would she accept? The girl really isn't on the road to normal… I think that applies to everybody in 2-A now that I think about it_…' Thane leaned back into the bench, a sigh escaping his lips "maybe I should ask Akira or one of the other girls for help…"

"What do you need girls help for Thane-sensei?"

"**AHHHHH!**"

Thane leaped back off the bench in a heap and quickly scrambled to his feet. The person who meet his eyes was Asuna's Friend and the girl That Setsuna guarded almost 22 hours every day, Konoka Konoe. "Damn it! Would you people stop scaring me all the time? I'm going to have a heart attack one of these days…"

Konoka tilted her head in confusion but didn't say anything about it "So what were you just talking about Thane-sensei?"

Thane brushed himself off and sighed "Hi to you to Konoka-san… I was just wondering what would make a good gift to a girl that's all…"

Konoka suddenly began to bubble over in excitement, which caused Thane to give her a strange look "Oh! Who are you giving a gift to?" Thane scratched the back of his head "I was hoping to give it to Yuna… but I don't even know what she would like as a gift…" Konoka started to pace around "Hum… you've picked a rather troublesome girl for a girlfriend Thane-sensei…"

Thane spewed "WH-WHAT! Who said anything about a girlfriend?"

Konoka gave him a confused look "Then why are you getting her a gift?" Thane started to wave his arms around "So I can apologize to her!" Konoka lightly tapped her right hand into her left "Ah! Why didn't you say so?"

Thane simply shook his head "Never mind… So what are you doing here Konoka-san? And where's you Red haired ball and chain?" Konoka shrugged her shoulders "You mean Asuna? She was supposed to meet me soon, but she had to cancel because of Negi-kun, so I'm here by myself getting some groceries"

_'you're not quite as alone as you might think' _Thane lightly chuckled and looked behind her. Sure enough, there was Setsuna trying to keep herself hidden by reading a newspaper. "well, I think that's rather dangerous, so this White Knight shall keep you company while you're here" Thane bowed to her with a low sweep.

Konoka giggled "very well then, and in return, this princess will reward her knight with finding an apology gift"

Thane stood back up "deal! Let's get going" he Motioned for Konoka to go first and followed her. Setsuna stayed a distance behind them. Thane took a few more glances back and lightly giggled to himself. Konoka stared at him in confusion "What's so funny Thane-sensei?" he waved his hand to shrug her question off "Nothing Konoka-san, just a personal joke… soooooo… Konoka-san… what's your relationship with Sakurazaki-san?"

Konoka raised her eyebrow "You mean Secchan?"

Thane stared at her "Sec…chan?"

Konoka looked away from him "I…don't really know…" Thane scratched his head "You don't know? Isn't she your bodyguard or something?" Konoka shook her head "I guess… but that's what she decided on her own…"

Thane scratched his head in confusion "Decided on her own? You mean she's not just somebody who guards you?"

"No, Secchan is my friend… or maybe it's just me who thinks that…"

Thane rubbed his neck in an awkward way "Um… I'm sorry if I just poked my nose into something… but you can talk about it with me if you're comfortable with that…"

Konoka looked at him with a sad smile "No… I'm sorry… I shouldn't burden you with this…"

Thane shook his head "If that's what you want… but I don't mind a burden or two. I already have plenty on my own wagon, and it weighs a ton. Adding a few more pounds to it will just make me stronger in the long run, and it helps you take a load off!"

Thane smiled at her and patted her shoulder. Konoka looked at him with her mouth slightly open, but she quickly smiled back "Thank you for the kind words Sensei, I guess I have had this on my chest for a while." She looked over around her lost in thought until she looked back at Him "When I was little, I used to live in a large estate. Large, quite, and very lonely… that is until someone from the Shinmei school came. That's when I meet Secchan and we became friends."

Thane shook his head _'I see, but what changed…'_ Konoka brushed her hair behind her ear "At the time, She was Practicing Kendo, and would chase away scary dogs and protect me…"

Thane took a look back and saw Setsuna still following them _'seems to me like she is still protecting you…'_

"we had lots of fun together until one day I almost drowned in a river… She tried her hardest to save me, but in the end some adults saved us both…" Thane saw Konoka's face and saw the sadness there "She swore that she would get stronger so that something like that wouldn't happen ever again, so she continued her training with even more Purpose and we ended up spending less and less time together. When I moved to Mahora, she followed me and I had hoped that we could start talking again like we used to…"

Thane saw a tear fall from her face "It…It was like I did something wrong… tell me Sensei… is this my fault in some way?"

Thane looked at her and then back at the hidden Setsuna. He didn't answer for a period of time. AFter a few more minutes of silence between the two Thane patted her on the shoulder and gave her a smile "No, this isn't anybody's fault in anyway. This, is merely one part of the equation being stubborn. Don't think this is your fault in anyway Konoka-san."

"But… why is she avoiding me?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "I honestly don't know, but I have a feeling that it comes from some amount of misunderstanding"

Thane reached into his pocket and pulled out the pocket watch "here, look at this"

Konoka leaned in close, confusion on her face. Thane opened the lid to reveal the Picture inside. Konoka looked for a second before she smiled "Who are these two? They look cute together!"

"these are my friends, Oswald and Lif." Konoka looked at the dark haired youth and giggled "he looks so shy standing next to her. It's cute!" Thane laughed "Of course he does! The poor sap hardly ever smiles, and when I finally get him to, it looks like this. Man, he could try giving a better smile next to His fiancé…"

Konoka turned her head quickly "these two are engaged!-?"

Thane nodded his head "yeah, hard to believe isn't it? If it wasn't for me pushing the moron, he wouldn't even have taken the first step. But he's my best friend what am I going to do about it?"

Konoka giggled "you both sound close"

"yeah, but would you believe me if I told you that the first time we ever met, The sonuvabitch stabbed me in the gut?"

Konoka's eyes went wide in shock "What! No way!"

Thane pulled up his shirt and showed her a nasty Scar on his stomach "yes way. I won't go into details about where or why it happened, but soon after that we became friends. He always watched my back, and I made sure he got the girl he loved. Happy ending"

Konoka smiled warmly at the picture again. Thane lightly sighed "Though sometimes we get into fights and we end up beating each other up over the dumbest things, but in the end, I look at this scar and think to myself 'hey, if this friendship started on a sword wound, then a simple argument won't break this apart' Sometimes, friendship can be like two rocks. They may occasionally bash together, and the moss may grow differently on each one, but when the storm hits, you can trust it to be right next to you through it all, feeling refreshed and closer when the rain of life finally passes by."

Konoka stared at her Sensei for a few minutes. Her face suddenly lit up with a smile "Oswald-san is lucky to have a friend like you, you know?"

Thane turned his head away, his smile dwindling "I don't know about that… I won't even be there for his wedding, and he asked me to be his best man for it to…"

Konoka latched onto his arm, much to Thane's surprise "Then don't miss his wedding! Simple as that!"

Thane looked at her, dumbfounded for a few minutes before he burst out laughing "HA HA HA! True! I don't miss the wedding, I don't break the promise! Though getting back to him could be just a little problematic…"

She started to drag him along "Oh! You can worry about that later! For now, our mission has changed from getting one present, to two! One to apologize to Yuna-san, and the other to get for Oswald-san's wedding!" Thane smiled at her enthusiasm "alright then! We'll do just that! Lead on Konoka!"

Setsuna was standing some ways off slightly fidgeting. She hadn't heard what Thane or her Ojou-sama had said, but she could tell that he had cheered her up from whatever was making her cry. Though Setsuna was feeling just a little sad that it had not been her in Thane's shoes. She quickly shook her head and crushed the thoughts from her mind _'No! When Ojou-sama is at her happiest, then so am I! There is no need for me to be in that light… I'll stay in the shadows, like I always have…'_ She didn't sound as convinced as she had wanted and shook her head again, quickly following them both to protect her Precious Ojou-sama.

**Xx A few fun hours later xX**

Thane was holding several bags in his hands with Konoka walking next to him, only a few bags in her own hands. Konoka looked down at the unequal amount of bags "Are you sure you don't want me to carry a few more Thane-san?"

Thane held up his hand "No! I will never ask a lady to carry such a massive amount!"

She slightly sweated "It's only five bags…" Thane huffed "No matter! This is my way of thanking you in helping me!" she held up the two bags in her hands "I didn't think finding a wedding gift would be that simple…"

Thane shrugged his shoulders "he's a simple guy with even simpler tastes. Now the Gift for Yuna… I wasn't expecting that…"

Konoka pulled out a small German Tiger Tank replica and turned the box over a few times "I heard from Asuna that she's nuts about this stuff… don't know why though…"

Thane smiled nervously "I don't know either, but oddly enough, it fits…" Konoka giggled at his look. The both of them chatted leisurely until they finally got back to the dorms. Thane escorted Konoka until they stood outside her room. She turned around and traded bags with him "I would like to thank you for today Thane-san. You really helped me out, even if it doesn't show." Thane smiled at her mischievously "If you're really that thankful, then perhaps you should give this Knight a reward?"

Konoka tilted her head with a smile "and what does the Knight wish from the princess?"

"How about a simple kiss milady?" Thane saw her face turn red, and he laughed "ha! Just a joke Konoka-san! Like I would really ask for such a-"

Suddenly, she came in close and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, which shut him up. She was red in the face, but smiled warmly "Like I said, you helped me more then you know and I thank you for it…" She bowed to a red faced Youth and went back into her Dorm, Leaving Thane to ponder on what just happened. He lightly brushed his cheek where she kissed him and exploded into a mountain of steam. He started to jerk awkwardly back to his own dorm room _'I really need to watch what I say around here…'_

Thane walked back to his own dorm room and knocked on the door. He didn't get an answer. He waited a few more minutes until he checked the door itself. It was locked. Thane pulled out the key to the room and entered. he looked around the room and saw that nobody was home. He checked his cell phone and saw That both Akira and Yuna had to stay over for a little bit for some practice in their clubs. Thane simply sighed and put the gift on the table "I guess I should go ahead and get some work done… maybe I should make dinner first…"

Thane felt a big Yawn escape from his mouth and his eyes felt heavy "Maybe I should take a nap first… That silly dodge ball game wore me out…" He got up to go get a blanket and sat back down. He looked at both bags and reached over and grabbed the wedding gift. It was a small plaque with a coat of arms on it with words etched into the wooden portion. Thane said the words out loud _"Honor is Sacred, Peace is beautiful, and Love is irreplaceable…_ Defiantly reflects their relationship…" Thane smiled to himself and set it back down on the table, his eyelids finally growing too heavy to keep open and his consciousness slipping into darkness.

**Xx about an hour later xX**

Yuna crawled through the door with a slight whimper "Riko-Sempai is a real killer when it comes to practice… I can't feel my legs…" Yuna trudged her way through the apartment straight into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out a pudding cup "Yes! If there's one thing that can get me going again, it's sweets!"

She opened the pack and started to greedily eat it away. That is until she heard something "Huuuun… don't eat meeeeee… *snore*" Yuna looked over at the sound with the spoon still hanging in her mouth. Thane was sprawled all over the couch in a very uncomfortable sleeping position with a dopey expression on his face.

Yuna held back from busting a gut and put her hand over her mouth. "That dope *Snirk* he looks ridicules right now…" Thane turned over and fell on the floor, though he didn't wake up "Ow…Don't kick me stalker… not my fault your Delusional…"

Xx room number 648 xX

Mana pulled out a Remington 1100 tactical shotgun from under her blanket and started to March toward the door, a dangerous glint in her eye. Setsuna started to flail around "ta-Tatsumiya-san! What are you doing?" Mana stopped at the door and leaned the gun against her shoulder "I don't quite know myself… feels like I need to go shoot somebody though…" Setsuna sighed quietly to herself, not really sure what to say about that. Suddenly a thought came to her _'wait…she sleeps with that thing under her blanket?'_

**Xx 628 xX**

Yuna shook her head slowly with a smile "seriously… he's gonna catch a cold…" Yuna put her treat down and went over to pick him up. She reached down and lifted him by his arms, though his weight surprised her "Woah!" she took a few steps back, which caused him to fall back into her chest. She was trying to lift him back up but…

"Hun…stop it…" Thane pushed back into her and caused them both to fall over in a heap

"Wah!"

Yuna was lying flat on her back while Thane lay across on her lap

"Soft…"

She sat up, but couldn't get any further than that. She scratched the back of her head in embarrassment "Well… what do I do about this?" fortunately for her, Thane rolled off her lap and onto her legs, now facing down into the ground.

"Journey to the west…"

Yuna shrugged her shoulders "He is an odd duck…" She pulled her feet out from under him and simply sighed. She looked at him sleeping on the floor for a minute more before she shrugged her shoulders in defeat "Well… I guess this is fine for now… I'll get Akira to help me put him back on the couch when she comes home." She turned around to pick up her half eaten pudding and saw the bags on the table "Huh? What's this?"

She opened one of the bags and found the Tank model "WOOOOOH! Is this a Panzer IV Tiger model II ? Awesome! Ugh!" She quickly turned toward Thane and saw him still asleep. She breathed a sigh of relief "Phew… but what is this doing here? And why does he have one?" She turned it over a few times to admire it and saw a slip of paper fall off of it "Hum? What's this?"

She picked it up and opened it _'To Yuna, Sorry about not keeping my promise. I hope you can forgive me with this. From Thane Mastizetai.' _Yuna turned the letter over in her hand a few more times before she smiled "Seriously… I hadn't even thought about it since yesterday… he worries about things too much…" She looked back over at her pale sensei.

She looked at him with a warm smile for a few more minutes before she pulled the blanket off the couch. She spread it out and covered him up with it. She reached down and patted him on the head "Thanks' Sensei…all is forgiven…" Yuna didn't see it, but Thane smiled to himself and mumbled out a few unheard words "welcome…Yuna…"

* * *

><p>So How was it? Did we Enjoy the Dodge ball game? I hope so! By the way, this was the first chapter where I introduced something that resembled a fight scene, I am hopping that all of you take the time and read it, tell me if it's a good fight scene or not in reviews. I am hopping to add more of these in while trying to stick pretty close to Canon. That's another thing, Sooner or Later, I may or may not start deviating away from canon, I hope that this will not upset any of you in some way, but simply re-telling the same story from the perspective of another character can get kinda boring pretty fast. By the way, in case any of you are wondering where the Thing about Rocks and Friendship came from, it came from my dear Old Grandfather. he always had something to say and an Unusual way of saying it, so I wanted to use a few of his sayings in this series. Coming soon in the next chapter! We are finally going to be getting into Story Plot! Oh the inhumanity!<p>

This is your Friendly Junki signing off!


	6. Chapter 6

Whats this?-! a new Chapter so soon after the last!-? SWEET JESUS WHAT SORCERY IS THIS!-?-!

but on a more serious note, in truth, I felt so happy about receiving so many positive reviews from my previous chapter that I went and wrote like my very life (self-esteem) depended on it! so I wrote, and wrote, and wrote till I found that I had hit the end of the chapter. 37 goddamned pages in four days, that's a frikken record for me people, so I wouldn't expect this speed from me in the long run. Now it's time for every bodies favorite review response time!

Anon:That's good to hear! lets hope I can make them even better!

Assassin4life: well Christmas just came early my friend! enjoy!

Reader Enjoyer: Really, what gave you that impression? *Starts smoking a pipe* I bet you noticed all the were's and where's didn't you? I keep getting those things confused!

APeeledOnion: One night? must have really liked it then, and that makes me happy!

Guilop: Glad you like the dodgeball match! I made that whole chapter just for that one moment ya know!

DragonXNegima2: Good! An author must try to improve every time he writes! let us hope that I can make each chapter afterward even better!

On with the show!

* * *

><p>Pale Roots<p>

Chapter 4: A Library in the middle of an Island? Who thinks of this stuff ?

By Thane

Thane was pumping his legs as fast as he possibly could "LATE LATE LATE LATE LATE! So going to be late if you gals don't pick up the pace!"

Yuna and Akira looked back at Thane with some slight amusement on there faces "**We're **going to be late!-? Speak for yourself! You're the one dragging his ass!"

Thane stuck his tongue out at Yuna, as if to defy her words "Says you!" Thane suddenly dashed past the other two "Meet you at class Slowpoke!-!"

Yuna started to grit her teeth, the challenge having been accepted "No way am I going to lose!" The energetic girl pumped her legs faster and dashed next to Thane, making both of them race to the School building.

Akira could only smile at both of them "Things sure are crazy with those two around…" noticing the distance that was suddenly between her and her roommates, Akira dashed after the two of them so that she herself wouldn't lag behind.

Thane and Yuna were running neck and neck, neither one wanting to give the other a lead. Yuna suddenly smiled and pushed past Him, her long hours on the team giving her an advantage "Loser cooks tonight's dinner! I happen to want Chawanmushi* tonight!"

Thane gritted his teeth in determination "What a coincidence! So do I! Only you'll be cooking it!" Thane was about to overpass her when the sound of a small boyish-yet-vaguely-sounding-like-a-girl-like voice calling out to him

"Thane-san good morning!"

Thane slowed down and looked to See Negi waving at him. Thane smiled and waved back enthusiastically, "Negi Boy! Morning!" Thane saw many more of the students from 2-A waving at him and he waved back, _'ah…what a pleasant morning! So many friendly greetings!'_ Thane suddenly remembered that he was in the middle of a race and jerked out of his morning greeting mode. He turned and saw Yuna already halfway up the steps, "AW SNAP!" Thane dashed forward and leaped onto the railing, causing many people to 'Ohhh!'

Thane dashed past her laughing madly, thoughts of his victory at hand, "You'll never beat **me** Yuna!-!-! NYA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

Yuna smiled devilishly and quickly reached down and scooped a small rock in her hand and threw it under his next step, causing him to slip up and begin to descend to the ground, gravity expediting that process "YOU CHEATING BITCH!-!-!"

Yuna stuck her tongue out at him as she passed him by, "all's fair in love and war!"

"THIS IS NEITHER ONE!-!-!"

The resulting impact of face to asphalt caused many people to cringe and made Ako come over and see if he was Ok. Thane sat up and shook his head to dispel the pain, "Cheater! Grrrrrrr…"

Ako checked him over a few times to "Do you feel ok Sensei? Nothing out of place? Your head isn't swimming?"

Thane looked over at Ako and patted her on the head "Nah, I'm Fine. Just a little fall won't kill me, Thanks for the worry though!"

Ako lightly blushed from his hand on her head, but gave him a smile, "Your welcome" Thane and Ako quickly got up and joined the rest of the early morning rush to class, annoying thoughts about cooking entering his thoughts.

**Xx A little while later xX**

Thane was standing next to Negi's desk, his eyes scanning the room as Negi taught the material. Of course, the Addition of Shizuna standing off in the back, evaluating them both didn't really bother him, and it didn't look like Negi was bothered by it either. Thane looked back over at Negi and chuckled internally, _'He's been getting better at this. Last week, we could hardly keep them from Rioting every twenty minutes. Now they actually listen… makes me happy…'_

"Now then…"

Negi's voice brought Thane back to attention, "Who can I get to translate this passage for me?"

Everybody looked away from Negi, not wanting to make eye contact. Thane smiled devilishly, "Negi! How about we get Yuna to translate? She was high on energy this morning!"

Negi lit up at the thought, "I think that's a good Idea!"

Yuna jolted to her feet, "WHY YOU-!-!"

Thane chuckled evilly _'paybacks a bitch kid, live with it'_

Ayaka got up from her seat, her ever present flowery aura catching everybodies attention "Allow me to translate Sens-"

Fuka pointed at her "Class rep's trying to score points!"

Sakurako added her input "It's the half-breed way!"

"Wah!-? I'm not a half-breed!"

Thane lightly chuckled at the little display, but noticed the look that Shizuna was giving them. It was a warm motherly smile. Thane scratched his head but didn't think about it too much after that.

**Xx After class, The Headmasters office xX**

"I see…so Negi-kun is doing quite well then…"

Shizuna nodded her head "Yes Headmaster, he Gets along well with the Students and he teaches so well that you would never believe that he was just Ten. As his Guidance Councilor, I would give him a passing grade"

Old Man Konoe Stroked his beard in thought, "That's good to hear… What about our otherworldly resident? How is his progress?"

Shizuna lightly laughed "You Mean Thane-san? I have yet to see him teach at all, but his presence seems to help keep the girls in line, but more through respect then fear. He tries his hardest to help Negi and he is certainly very friendly. But I would need just a bit more to see his actual skill in the teaching department."

The Headmaster leaned back into his Chair, his fingers steepled together "I see… This is good news then. I will be able to hire Negi as a full time teacher come April onwards."

He got up and shook her hand, but '_accidently'_ slipped and fell into her impressive rack "Good work! Now where'd you go?"

Shizuna shook her head "Up here…"

*the next action is too violent to be mentioned to most anybody and has hence been removed by the author by our request. We appreciate your understanding, From the department of Violence against Old People*

The old man gave her a serious look with a bloody bandage on his head "there is one more thing however…"

Shizuna raised her eyebrow in a questioning manner "Hum?"

The Headmaster went back to his desk and pulled out a piece of paper and a brush "A task to judge not his teaching abilities, but his potential as a Mage… I think that Thane-kun should also not be exempt from this challenge…"

**Xx later on xX**

Thane was walking behind Negi and was having a pleasant conversation with Yuna and Sakurako. After laughing off one of Sakurako's jokes, Thane then turned his attention toward Yuna, "So what do you want in tonight's dinner Yuna?"

She gave him an odd look, "Wait, you were being serious about that bet?"

Thane looked and felt slightly offended, "of course I was serious! What do you take me for?"

Yuna suddenly lit up in delight, "Ohhh! Meat! Lots of it!"

Thane shook his head, "Just meat? Too much protein can cause fatty build up you know; soon you'll be getting love handles if you don't watch it"

Sakurako lightly laughed "I doubt that! She's too high on energy to even worry about getting fat"

Yuna fist pumped "Damn straight!"

Negi gave Thane a quizzical look, "Wait, Your staying with Akashi–san?"

Thane nodded his head in answer, "Yeah, you weren't aware? Sorry about that"

Negi waved his hand, "No, it's alright. Just surprised that's all"

Thane shrugged his shoulders, "Headmaster says we're short on space, so he lumped me in with this nut job"

he jerked his Finger at Yuna to make his point, "Hey you! Nice Thanks for somebody who picks up your dirty laundry!"

Thane lightly laughed, "yes, yes… sorry Mom."

Negi laughed inwardly, _'they get along so well…wish I was that good of terms with Asuna-san…'_

Negi shrugged his shoulders and continued walking until he saw into one of the class rooms. He noticed all the students studying with an anxious air "Huh… all the other classes are really working hard…"

Thane looked into the class as well "hey, you're right. I wonder why?"

Yuna suddenly remembered something she saw on the Student bulletin board this morning, "Ah, that's right! It's almost time for the end of term Exams for the middle school!"

Sakurako raised her finger, "It's like, next Monday!"

Both Thane and Negi looked back into the Class, "Huh must be hard…"

Thane nodded his head, "yeah, I'd be worried if I was a student… or worse, a teacher…" both of them suddenly jolted in memory at that last little bit of trivia.

"Wait! You **are** a teacher Negi!"

Negi turned his Head to the two girls, "And you guys are students! Why aren't you buckling down!-?"

Sakurako put her finger to her lower lip cutely, "Oh yeah…"

Thane started to flap his arms around "WHAT DO YA MEAN 'oh yeah…' THIS IS IMPORTANT!"

Yuna raised her hand and waved off Thane's concern, "Reeeeeeeeeeeelaaaaaaaaax, this is an escalator school, it doesn't really matter if we pass or fail"

Sakurako patted the rattling Negi on his head, "Besides, this is class 2-A we're talking about, the worst class in the whole year, but it always turns out ok!"

Both Negi and Thane thought the exact same thing, _'it's not ok for us!'_

Thane lightly shook his head before Negi spoke up again, "what's that flower-like trophy?"

Thane turned his attention in the class again and saw what he was talking about. A shiny bronze trophy in the shape of a bouquet of flowers. Yuna also turned her head to see what he was talking about and lit up in realization, "Oh that. That goes to the class with the best grades in the finals…"

Negi started to scratch his chin, "really…"

The girls started to walk off while Thane watched Negi take a few glances back at the trophy, deep in thought.

"What are ya thinking about Negi boy?"

Negi looked back at him, "I was just thinking about how nice it would be if we could win that trophy… But we would have to get them motivated somehow… offer them something maybe? Or maybe a magic spell…"

Thane lightly conked him on the head, "Hey now. My philosophy is to let people do as they would please. If the girls don't want to try to aim higher than this, then let em. Though I do agree that it would be nice to win…"

Thane looked back in the room at the trophy and simply sighed, "well… Not really our problem…"

Negi started to lightly cry, "But it is…don't blow it off…"

"Negi-Sensei! Thane-sensei!"

both Males turned toward the voice and saw Shizuna walking toward them with something in her hand and a worried look on her face. Thane started to feel nervous _'I do __**not**__ like the look on her face…'_

"Ah! Shizuna-Sensei what is it?"

She held out the small paper to Negi, "The principle wanted me to give this to you…"

Thane stood over Negi and looked at her, "You look serious… now I'm starting to get worried…" Both Thane and Negi looked at the envelope

**'Final challenge for Teacher-in-Training Negi Springfield'**

"Wh-What!-? I didn't hear anything about a challenge! Final or otherwise!"

Thane felt only a little more relaxed then Negi, but was still worried, _'aw man, what the heck is this?'_

Negi started taking deep breaths, "Ok… don't panic, first open the letter, then Panic"

Thane laughed nervously, "Just skip the initial first step, saves time…"

both of them laughed in a lackluster manner.

Negi gulped loudly and opened the Letter,

**'Dear Negi-kun, If class 2-A isn't in last place this year, I will acknowledge you as a fully fledged teacher. Headmaster Konoe, Mahora Academy.'**

Thane and Negi looked at the contents for a few more seconds, their thoughts impossible to discern.

Negi suddenly started to laugh, "Ha… Ha! This is easier then I could have hoped!"

Thane didn't quite share Negi's excitement, "Uh, Hello? Remember what class you teach? 2-A, worst grades, 2 years running now, this is way more than a problem!"

Negi waved his suggestion off, "Don't worry about it too much Thane-san! I'm sure we can work something out!"

Thane gave him a look, "I don't know about that… Oh well, not like anything bad happens to me…"

Negi flipped the paper over and saw more writing, "Oh what's this?"

** 'P.S If Negi-kun fails His final Challenge; you will be evicted due to breaking your promise Thane-kun. No pressure. From the Headmaster'**

Thane grabbed the paper From Negi's hands and started to shake it violently, as if doing so would harm the old man in some way, "IMMA KILL HIM!"

Negi took a few steps back in case Thane decided to go for a more human target, Namely him. After a few more seconds of air strangulation, Thane slumped his shoulders and sighed, handing the paper back to Negi

"Now… it's my problem…"

Suddenly, Sakurako and Yuna appeared next to Negi and started to pester him, "hey hey! What's this Negi-kun?"

"Are you an official teacher now?"

Negi pulled the paper out of there sight, "hey! No peeking!"

Unfortunately, Yuna pulled it from his grasp and read it, "Final Challenge? What's that?"

Thane yanked it out of her grasp and lightly swatted her in the head, "Nothing, Official teacher business for Negi that could mean good things or bad."

Yuna rubbed her head, "But it means he can be a teacher if he passes it right?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders in defeat, "yes that's what it means, but the reverse is also true, Got it?"

Sakurako started to Panic, understanding the implications of Thane's words, "What? No way! I gotta tell everybody about this!"

Negi started to flail his arms, "No! Wait! please don't! I don't want anybody to start panicking on my part!"

Sakurako, though still worried, didn't give it much more thought, "alright… if you're sure Negi-kun…"

Yuna however looked at her Pale roommate, "What does that mean for you then?"

Thane looked away from her and laughed nervously, "Nothing! I'll be totally fine! Just… try to study hard this time around…Ha ha…"

Negi patted him on the back with the enthusiasm that only a ten year old could have, "Don't worry! We'll work something out!"

Thane grinned and shrugged his shoulders at the Boy's never-say-die attitude, "Alright, alright, you win. Ok girls! Back to class!"

Thane motioned for the other two to go, which they did. Thane watched as Negi went after them and let his smile fade into a blank stare. He turned toward Shizuna "tell me Shizuna-sama, what do you think our chances are?"

Shizuna didn't answer him for a moment, "I Think your chances rely on how much you're willing to believe in the students of 2-A Thane-san"

Thane scratched his chin and shrugged his shoulders, "Hum… I guess I can believe in the students… but I'd rather believe in my friends more, know what I mean?"

Shizuna smiled, "I see…"

Thane bowed to her before he took off after the rest of his group, "I'll catch you later Shizuna-sama!"

Xx sometime later xX

"Ahem, Ok ladies! Listen up!"

Negi was sitting at his desk, his right arm flapping madly as if to catch the attention of everybody in the room, "Tomorrows homeroom will be a big study session!"

Thane clapped his hand together, "That's right! Finals are just around the corner ladies and we need to get in as much studying as possible before the finals hit us with a 2 ton brick!"

Negi nodded his head, "Yup!...uh… as a matter of fact, if this class gets last place again this year, something bad will happen!"

Thane nodded his head, _'yeah, to us… I don't wanna sleep on the benches again…'_

"So let's give it our best and study real hard everybody!"

Thane noticed the looks that went around the room, and they all said the same thing.

_'where'd this come from?'_

Thane blankly looked out into the room, _'well… I was expecting that…'_

Ayaka clapped her hands together, "Oh! I think that's a wonderful idea Negi-sensei!"

Thane smiled at her, _'well, I was expecting that to. Leave it to the class rep…'_

Suddenly, Sakurako practically jumped out of her chair and raised her hand, "Oh! I know a great study game that's all about going for it!"

Thane felt his stomach start to drop, _'happiness fading.'_

Negi, not feeling any kind of danger from this, answered her, "and that would be Sakurako-san?"

"It's called Baseball Janken! You see, your asked a question, and if you get it wrong-"

Everybody suddenly started yelling out, "Yeah!"

"Let's go for it!"

Thane felt his gut fall further, _'suddenly, I think I need to leave the room…'_

Negi looked out at the class with a serious expression, "A study method that uses baseball? Interesting! Feel free to go for it…"

Thane quickly jerked his head to look at Negi, "EH?"

Asuna had a similar reaction, "wait a minute!"

She tried to push forward to the front of the class, but was grabbed by Sakurako, "Wait! Negi! I think there's something you _R-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y_ need to know about Baseball Janken!"

"Come on Asuna! You first!"

"Aw man, this is **not **gonna end well!"

Thane put his hands together in prayer on Asuna's behalf, "Namu…"

After he got done with his mock prayer, Thane saw Negi pull out a 2-A grade sheet and light it up with some magic, conveniently when everybody else was distracted. Thane moved behind him, "What are you doing Negi?"

"Making a reference chart for easy grade average"

Thane saw the little ball of light fly off his Finger and onto the paper, bringing the faces of the students onto their averages. Needless to say, it wasn't impressive.

"Looks like we have about three people on the top of their grade. Chao Lingshin, Satomi Hakase, and Ayaka Yukihiro. Followed closely by Nodoka Miyazaki, Kazumi Asakura, Chizuru Naba, and Konoka"

Thane nodded his head until he looked at the other end of the paper, "yeah… but everybody else seems just a little below average, especially the five on the far right…"

Negi and Thane felt a sense of dread when they saw the Faces of Ku Fei, Kaede Nagase, Yue Ayase, Makie Sasaki, and Asuna. Thane crossed his arms and started to tap his foot in nervousness, "The five on the right are in serious trouble, making this situation rather bad…"

Thane looked at Negi and saw a face similar to his own on his features. The sudden appearance of white lingerie in the form of a bra falling on Negi's head caused both of them to look in the direction that it came from. Thane's mouth dropped along with Negi's in a comical manner. The Five Baka Rangers stood in the middle of the class in almost nothing save their underwear with the rest of the class laughing. Asuna and Makie were covering there front's while Ku Fei and Kaede were answering questions. Yue looked like she was bored out of her mind.

Negi jumped up out of his seat, "what the heck are you all doing!-?-!"

Sakurako, who had taken her blazer off along with her shoes, answered his question, "Baseball Janken! If you can't get the answer right you take off a piece of clothing!"

Thane felt his nose leaking, "Wh-what a raunchy bunch…"

Negi was staring out at the class in shock and horror, "the charts five dumbest are most naked, should have figured…"

The Baka rangers, save Asuna and Makie, did their traditional pose Ginyu style, "Baka rangers assemble!"

Thane did a face palm,_ 'we are... so doomed…'_

"Asuna! You blew another question!"

The red head backed away "Hello!-? Naked already!-!"

Poor Negi was shaking at this point, _'this is bad… I'll be sent home a failure as a teacher, and as a Mage!'_

Thane was shaking his head at the scenario, _'I'll be evicted, sent to jail for thirty years, and worst of all, be labeled a pedophile!'_

He started to roll on the floor, "I don't wanna go to prison!-!"

Sakurako stood over him with a hopeful expression, "You guys want to play too?"

Thane jumped up holding his arms in an X formation, "Hell no!"

Negi quickly shook his head, "Like that will happen!"

She shrugged her shoulders and went back to playing. Thane stood next to The Boy Genius and poked him in the shoulder. "what are we gonna do Negi Boy? I don't see how we can get out of this one..."

Negi looked down and then around in desperation until his eyes widened in revelation, "Ah! I remember now! The Gray Cell spell!"

Thane scratched his head and dodged a lacy bra, which happened to have been thrown by Misa, "Gray Cell spell?"

Negi quickly whipped out his staff, "yes! It'll turn them into geniuses for 72 hours! Down side is, they're as dumb as rocks for a month after. It's why the spell is forbidden, but we got no choice!"

Thane nodded his head, "Do it! It's our only hope!"

Suddenly, Asuna came out of nowhere and smacked them both upside the head, "Wait wait wait! Stop Dammit!"

Thane and Negi rubbed the backs of their heads, "wha?"

"What stupid plan have you guys got going on now!-? Come here you two!"

after hastily putting some clothes on, she dragged the both of them out the door and started to lecture them in the hall, "Negi! Whenever things start getting screwed up, you use magic to try to unscrew it! It's gotta stop! I thought your magic was supposed to be a secret! And you Thane!"

She pointed her finger at him, "aren't you supposed to be giving him good advice!-? I don't think making him use magic is a very smart thing to advise!"

Thane looked away from her while Negi poked his fingers together, "Bu-But… if we stay in last place… I can't be a great teacher **or **mage…"

Thane nodded his in agreement, _'plus he gets shipped back to Wales and I get thrown out on the street…'_

Asuna sighed and pulled out a small beat up notebook, "Here, take a look at this."

Negi pulled it from her grasp, "What's this?" he opened it up and saw all the test score, which surprised both him and Thane.

"Wow Asuna! I'm impressed!"

Thane scratched his chin, "Sure, the grades are still lousy, but they beat a Zero!"

"Hey! Even I've been trying my best recently!"

She shook her head at them both, "Sheesh Negi… wasn't it you who told me that 'courage is the real magic'?"

She pointed at him, "Don't you think _'Mage'_ That since you guys have no confidence in your students, that affect bleeds through to us and we lose confidence too?"

"GAH!-?-!"

Thane and Negi felt her words rip through their hearts like a sword. Thane was on all fours in defeat, _'what am I doing… I just told Shizuna-sama that I was going to trust the students more!' _

He suddenly sat up clutching his head in despair "I'M A FAILURE AS A TEACHER! Oh wait… I mean… I'M A FAILURE AS AN ASSISTANT TEACHER!**" Thane started to roll on the ground with Negi trying to stop him

"Th-Thane-san! Please stop! We'll think about this later, but for now we need to get back to class!"

Thane stopped and stood up, misery on his face "alright…"

Xx After class xX

Thane sat at one of the desks with his face implanted in the hardwood and a cloud of misery hanging over him ,"I'm a miserable failure… I should just become dirt…maybe maybe be potted in a plant…then my existence wouldn't reek of hypocrisy…"

Sayo was hovering around her teacher, not really sure what to do about this, "Um… Thane-sensei… I think your being too hard on yourself…"

Thane lightly lifted his head and looked up at the ghost, "No… I need to be punished more… my faith in the students is like my magical power… less then crap…"

He banged his head back down on the desk with a loud thunk. Sayo nervously looked around, hoping she could find something to cheer him up. She suddenly heard banging of flesh on wood and turned to see Thane lifting his head and dropping it back on the table repeatedly, "This is punishment for a crap-for-brains like me…"

Sayo suddenly started to wave her arms madly "Y-You can't do that! You'll hurt yourself Thane-sensei!"

Thane sat up suddenly, "does it matter?"

"Yes! You can't beat yourself up over things like this!"

Thanes eyes were dead and soulless as he looked at her, "and why not? I deserve it for being a lousy assistant teacher…"

Sayo quickly shook her head, "No! you're not a useless person! You can do things that other people can't!"

Thane slumped back into his chair "Like what?"

Sayo grabbed his hand and held it In her own, "You helped me! You can see me, hear me, even touch me! I don't know of anybody else who could do such things!"

Thane was looking at his hand in hers and was slightly blushing, "true… but I… *sigh* I'm overreacting again aren't I Sayo-chan?"

She lightly laughed, "Just a little…"

Thane shook his head, "Ugh… I gotta stop doing that…"

Thane noticed that his hand was still in Sayo's and smiled to himself, subconsciously gripping her hand, "Thanks Sayo. I think you're about the only person around here who I can talk to without going Crazy… funny considering that you're the craziest thing in the whole class…"

Sayo blushed from his grip and started to fidget, "Oh…that's good… Glad I can help, eh he he…"

Thane smiled at her again, "Come on, let me see a smile. It's one of the things I like best about you and one of the best Highlights of my day"

Sayo started to actually shine in embarrassment, "Li-Like?"

Thane nodded, "yes, I like you a lot. A friend I can cherish… Do you find that odd? That I like you so much even though we've only known each other for a short time?"

Sayo was seriously trying not to think too heavily on those words in the wrong context, _'he- he's obviously talking about it like a friend! Not in the way your thinking!'_

Sayo started to shake her head, "N-N-No! I don't think it's strange at all! Because I li-li-li-li-"

Thane raised his eyebrow in a questioning manner, "Li…what?"

Sayo looked down and started to lightly mumble, "like you to…"

Thane felt his cheeks flush quickly and he started to talk loudly, "HA HA! You do huh? Nice to know! HA HA!"

_'she obviously meant that in a friend context! Stop thinking like a moron!'_

Thane noticed that his hand was still in hers and suddenly felt rather nervous, _'would it be rude if I just pulled it out? but it feels rather awkward to just leave it… maybe if I moved it around a bit… that sounded dirtier then I intended…'_

Thane shook his head and looked at her face. He noticed that she kept taking glances at her hand with embarrassment on her face.

"um… sorry… am I making you uncomfortable Sayo-chan? I can let go if you want me to."

She lightly jumped, "O-Oh! No! it's not making me uncomfortable!"

She took a breath to calm herself down and held his hand in both of hers while giving him the smile he waited for, "In fact, I enjoy it a lot. This warmth… this sensation of contact… I simply want to enjoy it for as long as I can… it drives away thoughts of loneliness and sadness and is the highlight of **my** day…"

Thane felt many warm and fuzzes in his chest when she smiled. He laughed lightly and reached up and patted her on her head, "Well, if you enjoy it that much, perhaps we ought to try going a little further?"

Sayo tilted her head in confusion, "huh? Wh-what do you mean?"

"Exactly as it sounds, we try to aim for just a little more contact every time we meet."

Sayo felt a blush on her face, "um…th-then what's the eventual goal?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. That all depends on you, Sayo-chan. Of course, that's only if you're comfortable with it. If you don't want to, then I won't mind and we can simply stick with holding hands."

Sayo was blushing again, "Um… I-I don't mind…"

Thane patted her on the head again, a big grin plastered on his face, "Ok then! From here on out, you and I will try to aim for just a little more contact each time!"

Sayo nodded her head, "o-Ok… but I think we should focus on the upcoming Final first"

Thane's smile dropped, "Oh yeah…don't remind me of dreary things Sayo-chan…"

Sayo nervously laughed, "Eh he… sorry…"

Thane sighed, "But you're right, I need to focus on helping Negi and class 2-A to get out of last place!"

_'else I'll be thrown out on the street… stupid old man…'_

_Somewhere the Dean sneezed, spilling his coffee on his desk and onto his documents, "AHHHH! My work! NO!-!"_

Thane stood up and quickly started out the door, dragging Sayo behind him.

"Wha!-? Where are we going?"

Thane held his hand up and pointed to nowhere in particular, "The dorms! I need to get a study plan set up and get Negi to help me review it for tomorrows cram session!"

Thane suddenly stopped, causing Sayo to collide into him and fall on her ghostly rear, "Ouch!"

Thane picked her up, "Sorry about that, but can you even enter the dorms? The only places I've ever seen you at are the convenience store or In the class."

Sayo scratched her cheek in thought, "Um…_Maybe_? I don't know… I've never tried…"

Thane gave her a slightly annoyed look, "Wait… sixty years of being a ghost and you've never tried to enter the dorms?"

Sayo bowed her head in an apologetic manner, "n-No…"

Thane looked at her with some shock and amusement in his features, "well then! I think it's time we find out!" Thane grabbed her hand again and started to drag her along.

"Hey! _Sensei_!"

The slightly sarcastic tone on the honorific caught Thanes attention, causing him to look down the hall. He spotted the owners voice and smiled, followed by a short bow

"_Katamesimero_ (High noon) Evangeline-san"

The short vampire grumbled "Stop doing that! I don't even know what that means!"

Thane shrugged his shoulders in amusement, "sorry, force of habit." Thane saw the ever present Robot, Chachamaru standing behind her master with her expressionless face. Thane gave her a bow as well, "Greetings Chachamaru-san! Nice to see you again!"

The Gynoid bowed in return, "Greetings Sensei."

"yes yes. Hi, How you do, howdy, Konnichiwa, Lorem, Geia sas, yadda yadda… how's that seal research going?" Eva started to tap her foot in impatience.

Thane sighed at her, "I've only been working on it for… what? Five days? Not nearly enough time to even begin the preliminary findings. I said I would come to your Cottage in a few days, a _few,_ ranging anywhere from 2-6 days at minimum"

Eva started to scowl, "well hurry it up! You won't find it by working on these Bimbos!"

Thane crossed his arms, showing his annoyance, "First off, you don't rush something like this. If I get something wrong, I could potentially seal you away in another dimension altogether. And I'm sure you don't wanna get stuck in a dimension with little furry creatures singing '_small world'_ for the rest of eternity."

Eva slightly shivered from the thought. Thane held up his hand along with two fingers, "Point number two, If these '_bimbos'_ get in last place again this year, then you can kiss your way to freedom goodbye"

Eva suddenly was interested, and not in the good way, "what do you mean?"

Thane shook his head, "If class 2-A gets the lowest score again this year, then I lose my job **and** get evicted from the premises. Meaning your ticket to freedom leaves on the next trolley to nowhere"

Eva started to bite her thumbnail in frustration, "Grrrrrrrr… you have got to be kidding me! So I have to work on that damned test? Nobody told me about this! This sucks! I demand a refund!"

Thane shrugged his shoulders, "Hey, freedom tends to come with a price. Yours just so happens to be in the form of actually studying"

Thane waved at her as he walked past, "catch you tomorrow Eva-san. Don't worry, I'll have something in regards to the seal by the time the test ends, trust me."

Eva waved her fist at him, "You better!"

Sayo followed closely behind Thane as they descended the stairs.

Eva huffed in annoyance as she watched them go. The small vampire looked after them for a few more Minutes before she let a very brief smile cross her face, "Well…At least he's helping that Ghost out, if nothing else…"

Chachamaru tilted her head at her master's words, "What are you talking about Master?"

Eva waved her question away, "Nothing, now come on! Looks like I'm going to have to study for once…"

Outside, Sayo was following behind The pale youth with a question on her lips, "Is that true? If we get last place again this year, then you get fired and have to leave?"

Thane turned back to her, "yeah"

She felt panic start to well up in her chest, "That's terrible! I won't let that happen! I have to try to raise my score!"

Thane lightly chuckled at her, "I don't think your scores get added in Sayo-Chan… But it's nice to know that you care"

Sayo hovered next to him, her worry still present, "But this is a huge issue! Why are you acting so relaxed!-?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders, "Eh, I Dunno. Maybe cause your with me?"

Sayo slightly jolted, "Wh-What?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders again and laughed, "Eh, don't worry about it. I'm willing to believe in the rest of the class on this one. So come on! I wanna get home early today!" Thane grabbed a surprised Sayo by the hand and started to pull her along.

Xx At the dorm a little while Later xX

Thane stood outside the building next to Sayo, who was fidgeting nervously

"Um… Thane-Sensei… I don't know why but I'm feeling rather nervous…"

The pale youth looked at her in confusion "Why? It's just going into a dorm for the first time. Not like I'm asking you to go into a love hotel or something"

Sayo started to fidget where she stood… eh… hovered, " I…I don't know ok?"

Thane sighed in defeat, "alright then… I guess I can stay out here with you until you get over your nervousness"

Sayo lightly smiled at him, "Thank you…" Both of them sat on the steps, though Thane was the only one receiving attention from the many Girls going in and out of the dorms.

Thane nervously started to shift around, _'those girls are giving me suspicious stares… hurry up Sayo…' _

First 5 minutes.

Then 10 Minutes.

Eventually about 25 minutes pass before Thane said anything, "Sayo! What is taking-!" He looked up and saw that the ghost girl had nodded off to sleep. Thane was staring at her strangely, _'da heck? How did she fall asleep in twenty minutes? Hell, I didn't even know she __**could**__ sleep…'_ Thane observed her sleeping face for a few more seconds before he looked around to see if anybody was looking. He quickly pulled out his phone and took a snap shoot of her sleeping face. Thane looked at it and snapped his fingers

"Shoot… stupid phone can't take pictures of ghosts…" he pocketed his Phone and started to scratch his chin, "well… what do I do now?" he watched Sayo stir a little bit but went back to sleeping, lightly muttering something

"warm hands…"

Thane smiled at her, _'she's a cute girl…'_ Thane enjoyed her sleeping for a second more before he shrugged his shoulders, "Guess the only thing I can do is wait…"

he saw her… Ghost tail swish back and forth a little bit before a devilish grin came to his face, "or not…Now _there's_ an Idea…"

Any onlookers would have found his evil chuckling at nothing rather disturbing, fortunately, nobody was around to call the cops, or the mental ward. Thane reached out and gently grabbed her Ghost tail.

Sayo started to giggle, "Tickles…"

Thane had to clench his hand hard to stop himself from tickling her. He flexed his left hand to keep it busy and started to drag her through the air by her tail. This would have looked cute if anybody else could see it, fortunately (For him) only Thane could see it. Sayo didn't wake up the whole trip to the room and continued to sleep peacefully. Thane smiled at her as he approached his dorm room, "Geez… you sure are a heavy sleeper Sayo-Chan…" he opened the door and found Yuna sitting on the couch playing a game intently.

"Hello there Yuna! I see that you're studying hard! Didn't you have Basketball practice?"

Yuna turned her head and smiled at him, "Hey there! Not today, most everybody in the club is off studying for the finals, so I came home early!... why is your hand like that?"

Thane noticed that he was still holding Sayo and quickly let go, leaving her suspended in the foyer, "No reason!" Thane looked around the room and saw that he and Yuna were the only living things in there, "Where's Akira?"

Yuna went back to her game, "You know her, even if the Swimming club said that they were going to study, she still went to go swimming… get him Damn it! Sword swing! SWORD SWING!" Yuna leaned closer to the Television in fury and started to mash buttons.

Thane simply shrugged his shoulders and went into the kitchen, "You really should be studying you know"

Yuna leaned back into the couch with a disappointed look on her face, "After I beat the next stage. I'm close to leveling up!"

Thane shook his head, but didn't say anything. Thane got started in the kitchen when he suddenly heard Yuna jump up in frustration

"ARGH! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT !-?-! WHO USES A GUN IN A SWORD FIGHT!-? WHERE'S YOUR SAMURIE SPIRIT!-?"

"Yuna! Shhh! You're being too loud! You're going to wake her up!"

The Basketball addict turned toward him in confusion, "huh? Wake who up?"

Thane remembered that she couldn't see Sayo and suddenly started to grasp at an excuse, "Um…well… you certainly don't want to wake the neighbors up!"

Yuna glanced over at the clock, "It's only 6:23"

"Th-That doesn't matter! Some people like to turn in early! Be considerate of them!"

Yuna scratched her head in confusion for a moment before she shrugged her shoulders. Thane watched her sit back down and get right back to playing. He sighed in relief and looked over to see Sayo still sleeping in mid-air. He went right back to fixing the dinner until he heard yet another loud shout

"AGH!"

Thane looked over and saw Yuna fall back into the couch, a big 'Game Over' on the screen. Thane sighed, "trouble?"

Yuna was waving the controller around, "Trouble? This is annoying… Stupid game mechanics… hey!" She suddenly leaped up and turned to face Him, "This is also a two player game! Wanna play with me?"

far away, in the Track pool, Akira felt her skin tingle, and not from the chill of the water on her skin, "I feel like I need to get home quickly…"

Thane looked up at her with some confusion in his eyes, "I really need to get this on if we want to eat soon…"

Yuna waved her hand at him, "Don't worry about it! Come on! let's have some fun together!"

Akira suddenly shudder, "Ok, twice in a row? I think I need to head home…"

Thane looked back at the game and then to the food. After a few more minutes of internal debate, he threw his arms in the air in defeat, "sure, Why not? One game won't cause any harm"

Xx Eva's cottage xX

Eva sat up from the couch in her room and started to laugh, "Yeah right!"

Chachamaru looked over at her, "is something the matter Master?"

Eva looked around and scratched her head in confusion, "I don't know… feels like my idiot senses are tingling…"

Chachamaru Stared at her with her ever expressionless face, "I'll go get you some medicine"

Eva started to Fume, "I'm not sick Dammit!"

Xx back at the dorm and many games later xX

Thane was staring at the television with the intent to kill, "Frikken BS! What the heck was that!-?"

Yuna was smiling devilishly, "You know, you might win if you didn't pick the slow character every single time"

Thane was furiously mashing buttons, "The girl knows frikken Karate! She should be able to blow your little ninja away!"

Yuna simply did a simply button combo and the sound of defeat was heard, "Power means nothing if you can't hit me"

Thane started to furiously scratch his head, "God's damn it! Screw this!"

he threw himself back into the couch and dropped the controller, "This game sucks anyway!"

Yuna gave him a cocky smirk, "What's the matter? Angry cause you can't beat me?"

Thane glared at her. "No! I just have better things to do rather then play silly games! And now that I think about it, You need to be studying for the test next Monday!"

Yuna blanched, "Crap… I was hoping you forgot about that…"

Thane jumped up and started to wave his arms franticly, "Move move move! Those text books won't study themselves you know!"

Yuna quickly got up and grabbed her work books. Thane watched her open her text and begin her readings. He slightly nodded to himself and watched her for a few more seconds before he decided to head back into the kitchen. He saw that Sayo was still resting peacefully in the hallway and smiled, _'girl sleeps like a log…'_ Thane observed her for a few more seconds before he Finally got started in the kitchen.

Unknown to him was that Sayo had woken up just as he turned his back. She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes as she pulled her consciousness to the surface.

"Huh… wha?..." She shook her head, drudging the last bit of consciousness from her mind. The ghost looked around and saw the unfamiliar environment that she was in, "Wh-Where am I?" She felt herself beginning to panic _'was I kidnapped? Oh, I've heard so many bad things about people being kidnapped but I never thought it would happen to me!' _

She started to wave her arms franticly, "I'm going to be killed!" She stopped to think about that statement "... Oh wait… I'm already dead…" Sayo relaxed for a moment, "well… that's one less thing to worry about… but where am I?" Sayo looked out through the room and saw Yuna half-heartedly studying a text book. _'that's one of my classmates… then I'm in the dorms?'_

"_Psssssssssst Sayo-chan_!"

Sayo looked over and saw Thane motioning for her to come over.

Yuna looked up and saw him waving at thin air, "what are you doing?"

Thane looked over at her and then back to his hand. He quickly pulled it behind his back, "Oh Nothing! Just waving at ghosts that's all! HA HA!"

_'that's not entirely false either…'_

Yuna gave him a suspicious look, but went right back to studying, "Ok then…"

Thane wiped the sweat from his brow, "Close…" he looked back over at Sayo and grinned at her.

Sayo grinned back and hovered over to him, "Thane-sensei, what happened? Last I remembered, I was outside…"

Thane got to work on dinner and lightly whispered back to her, "You went out like a light. So I brought you inside, sorry about that."

Sayo looked on at him and lightly smiled at him, "Oh! No trouble… sorry about just falling asleep like that…"

Thane chuckled to himself as he cut up more food, "He… no problem, defiantly worth it to see that cute sleeping face of yours…"

Sayo lightly blushed, but didn't say anything.

Xx later xX

After a good 30 or so minutes, Thane had finally got the food done and placed it out on the table. Akira had shown up not but a few minutes earlier and got herself cleaned up and ready to eat dinner. After everybody was done eating, Yuna and Akira got to work on their studies while Thane was busy compiling the rest of the study material for tomorrow. After an hour or so, Thane shuffled them together and got up.

Akira looked up at him, "Hum? Where are you going Sensei?"

Thane put his shoes on, "To visit Negi, I need him to go over these. Check to make sure if they're good for tomorrow's study room."

Akira put her pen down, "do you need somebody to go with you?"

Thane waved his hand at her suggestion, "Please, it's just down the hall. I won't get lost walking a few yards…"

Yuna and Akira both glance at each other with the same expression

'_yeah right.'_

Thane saw their expressions and huffed in annoyance, "Hey now, I'm not th-"

Yuna cut off what he was going to say next with a shrug of her shoulders, "can't be helped, Akira, how about you go with him?"

Akira quickly turned her head in surprise, "m-me? why me?"

Yuna held her finger up and started to wag it, "Did you forget? Your grades are better than mine. I need to study harder then you! So you get to go!"

Thane raised his hand to try to catch there attention, "Uh, I'm kinda right here you know? Do I get a say in this?"

Both girls ignored him.

Akira started to stutter, "But…"

Yuna smiled at her, "No Buts! You know how bad he is with direction"

Thane started to growl, "Hello! I'm standing **right** here!-!"

Akira turned and started to give a nervous laugh, "eh he… sorry…"

Thane simply huffed in annoyance, and maybe feeling just a little hurt on the inside, _'I'm not directionally challenged Dammit! I just get distracted easily!'_ Thane quickly left

"I don't need help!"

"Ah! Sensei! Wait!"

Akira quickly put her shoes on and followed him. Yuna observed the door for a few more seconds before she turned around and turned the TV on, "Now let's pick up where we left off ya gun totting bastard…"

the forgotten Sayo felt like she wanted to follow Her Sensei, but the game that Yuna had turned on had caught her attention, "what's that?..." She hovered right behind Yuna as she started to mash buttons.

Outside the door, Akira had caught up to The pale youth and was walking beside him, silence filling the air.

"You didn't need to come with me you know, I know what room number he's in"

Akira looked at the passing rooms and raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh? Then why are you going in the opposite direction of his room?"

Thane looked at her and then at the room numbers. He had indeed been going in the opposite direction. Thane stared at the wall for a second more with a blush on his face and lightly mumbled, "shut up…"

Akira couldn't help but giggle at his little goof, "sorry, but it's just funny"

Thane huffed in annoyance, "har har… glad you're happy…"

The both of them turned around and finally got to the right room. Thane saw the little thing on the side with the names on it and saw Negi's name tapped on it. He couldn't help but laugh on the inside every time he saw it. Thane then knocked on the door, "Negi! Hey! I have the study notes for tomorrow! Can I come in?" There was no answer. Akira and Thane stood there waiting for a second more before he knocked again, "Hello? Asuna-san? Konoka-san?" again, no reply. Thane started to scratch his head in confusion, "Funny… are they not here? But where would they go at 7?"

Akira looked at the door for a few more seconds before she suddenly remembered something from earlier

Xx on the way home from the pool xX

_Akira finished locking the pool up and was on her way home. Several uneventful minutes had passed for her as she walked the same route that she normally took from the pool to her dorm, when she suddenly noticed something. A large group of people by the looks of it. She didn't really pay it much mind until she noticed that the group where all people she knew. _

_'Is that Negi-sensei?'_

_ Akira saw the young Auburn haired boy get dragged behind Asuna. She saw One of them look at her and wave at her. It was Makie. She quickly walked over_

_ "Hey Akira! What are you doing here?"_

_ "I was on my way back from the pool, what are all of you doing out here?"_

_ Makie held her finger to her lip, "where going to the library to find some magic book to help us pass next week's exam!"_

_ Akira could only cock her head sideways in confusion, "Magic… book?"_

_ Asuna motioned for Makie to hurry it up._

_ "Oh! Sorry! Gotta run! I'll see you tomorrow Akira-san!" Akira waved her friend off as she pondered on what her friend just said_

Xx now xX

"ah! Thane-Sensei, I think he along with the other two went out with the other after school group to the Library to study"

Thane turned back to her and scratched the back of his head, "oh? Really? Well I guess that makes this trip rather useless, doesn't it?"

Akira gave him an Apologetic look, "Sorry… I should have remembered earlier…"

Thane simply shrugged his shoulders, "It's alright, no harm done. Besides, I can simply have him go over it tomorrow. Come on, let's head back to the room"

before they begin their short trip back to their room, Thane noticed something around the corner and took a few looks, having a sense of familiarity coming over him. Akira noticed his sudden interest in the corner and looked as well, "What is it Thane-sensei?"

Thane started to scratch his head in puzzlement, "Not sure… you can go on back, I think I need to check something out"

Before she could answer him, Thane quickly walked off and around the corner. Akira watched the spot for a little longer before she sighed to herself, _'I was hoping we could talk a little… I guess I can do that when he comes back to the room.'_ Akira stared for another few seconds and then turned around and began her walk back to her room.

After Thane left Akira, he quickly rounded the corner, slightly smiling as he did. Walking down the hall in a hurry was Setsuna, who was too busy being panicked to notice him at first and lightly muttering under her breath. Thane called out to her, "Hey! Setsuna! Where are you off to in a hurry?"

The swordswoman started and quickly turned to face him. The first thing he noticed was the semi-panicked look on her face, like it was the end of the world, "Hey, everything alright?"

She quickly shook her head, "No! I can't find Ojou-sama! Where did she go! Do you Know Thane-san? If you do, please tell me!"

Thane spent a few minutes trying to calm her down enough so he could actually answer her questions. After she was calm enough to seem rational, Thane finally managed to talk to her, "You calm now?"

Setsuna nodded her head, "Good! Now, as far as I know, she went with Asuna, Negi, and the rest of the Baka Rangers to the Library to study. So relax."

Setsuna, however, didn't seem to catch the 'relax' part, "I see! I need to go to her immediately!"

She started to run off, but suddenly fell to the ground when she felt something grab her by the collar of her uniform.

She looked up and saw Thane staring down at her, "Hold on their partner! Didn't I just tell you to relax?"

Setsuna quickly got up and dusted herself off, "I can't leave Ojou-sama's side! What if she gets into danger?"

Thane simply shook his head at her, "From what, pray tell? I think the worst she could suffer is maybe a paper cut in a library. Besides, Negi and Asuna are there as well, along with the rest of the Rangers. She will be fine for a few hours without you around"

Setsuna still looked like she wanted to dash past him, but Thane held her attention with his Blue eyes. She debated for a few more minutes before she slumped her shoulders in defeat, "alright…"

Thane patted her on her shoulders, "Good!" after he got done patting her shoulder, he let his arms fall to his side, a long silence following. "well… what are you going to do now?"

Setsuna seemed surprised by the question at first, but she furrowed her brow in thought, "I'm…not sure…" a few more moments pass them by. Suddenly Setsuna bowed low, "Sorry! I think I need to go look for her after all!"

before she could dash off, Thane grabbed her by the collar of her vest again, "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh no ya don't! you need to learn that she doesn't need you to tail her 24/7 365 days a year! You're coming with me!"

Setsuna found the strength he had to be surprising to say the least

_'despite his sickly look, he's surprisingly strong!'_

"Stop! I need to find her! What if she is in danger!-? I can feel my gut warning me!"

Thane rolled his eyes as he dragged the helpless girl " ***pfffffft*** _Pu-leez_… She's in a **library**, what could she possibly find there that would need a swordsman of your caliber to defend her against?"

Xx meanwhile, in Library Island xX

Negi, Asuna, Konoka, and the rest of the Baka rangers stood in a Giant room that seemed to tower over them, with pillars and bookshelves that seemed to keep the ceiling in Place. Everybody stood in awe Until Asuna spoke up

"Holy Crap! What is **this** doing under Library Island? It's unbelievable!"

Makie pointed at the two large stone statues that seemed to guard a small pedestal, "Hey! I've seen this before!"

Konoka looked at her, "really? Where?"

Makie started to wave her arm back and forth in excitement, "On my Little Brothers playstation!"

Everybody else just seemed to take it in stride.

Ku-Fei stared on in amazement, "Oh! This like Final Boss room-Aru!"

Asuna suddenly felt herself shudder, something that Negi and Konoka noticed.

"are you alright Asuna-san?"

"are you feeling cold Asuna?"

Asuna shook her head, "No… just felt like somebody Jinxed us, that's all… for some reason, I feel Like I need to punch Thane-sensei when we get back…"

"Look! There's the book!"

Makies overly excited voice drew the threes attention away from Asuna and to the place she was pointing at.

There on the pedestal was a Text book that looked to be rather thick, simple brown binding and old yellowed pages.

Yue, though wobbly, did a slight fist pump, "we've found it…"

Negi's eyes went wide in shock, "Th-That's… can it be!"

Asuna looked over at him "what? What is it?"

"That's the legendary Magical book of Merkisdek! I don't believe it! This is my first time seeing it! What's it doing in a library in Japan of all places?-!"

Asuna took a few glances from the Book to Negi, "So… it's a Ligit magic book? It can actually make people smarter?"

Negi was really excited at this point, "Ligit!-? Where talking the Supreme Magic book here! Jacking up brain power would be just a warm up for this thing!"

Makie and the rest also started to catch his enthusiasm, "Really!"

Konoka, however, had a bit more of a rational thought, "How do you know about that Negi-Kun?"

Asuna and the rest of the Baka rangers suddenly dashed forward, "Who cares!"

"Our prayers have been answered!" Just as the rangers started to Cross the bridge, Konoka and Negi tried to stop them "Wait! Stop! A book that powerful is bound to have a-!"

Xx now, at the dorm xX

Thane suddenly stopped in his tracks right outside his door, "It's a Trap!"

Setsuna, who had opted to walk the rest of the way, raised her eye brows in confusion, "what's a trap?"

Thane blinked a few times and shook his head, "Not sure… But I think I might need to hide from Asuna when she comes back…" Thane scratched his chin, pondering the odd words that had escaped his mouth.

Setsuna stared at him for a moment before she broke his concentration, "well… if we're at your room, then I guess I should head on back then"

Thane broke out of his train of thought and looked at her, "Oh! That's a shame, maybe you can stick around! I noticed that your grades aren't the very best. So, if you don't happen to have anything else to do, perhaps you would like to study with me and the girls?"

Setsuna stared at him for a moment, throwing the thought around in her mind, "well… Maybe…"

"Great! Come on in then!" Thane grabbed her by her arm and started to drag her through the door

"wh-? Hey! I didn't say I would!" Too little to late unfortunately.

"Hey girls! I'm home!"

Akira was sitting at the table, writing down some notes. She looked up and smiled, although she was confused when she saw Setsuna, "Welcome back Thane. Greetings Sakurazaki-san"

Setsuna suddenly started to feel a little nervous, "h-Hello Okochi-san…"

Thane was busy looking around the room for his other Dorm mate, "where's Yuna?"

Akira cast her gaze over by the Television, which had a paused game screen, although Yuna was nowhere to be seen. Thane let a scowl cross his features "she's supposed to be studying!" Thane went over, but tripped over an outstretched foot that was coming from under the table

"What the-?"

he looked over and saw the foot.

He then glanced Over at Akira, "Ok, it's obviously not yours…" after a few more seconds of thought, Thane started to Grin evilly. He then lunged forward and grabbed it, proceeding to tickle it. The table seemed to jump when a loud Thunk was heard from underneath

"Ow! HA HA HA HA HA HA! NO FAIR!"

Thane grabbed the foot and pulled out the rest of the body that went with it, That body being Yuna as she started to rub the back of her head

"you're a jerk…"

Thane simply stared down at her and pointed at her books, "You can play games as much as you want after the test. For now, you need to study."

Yuna could only comply with his request, albeit reluctantly. She sat up and Noticed Setsuna for the first time, "Oh! Hey there Sakurazaki-san! What are you doing here?"

Thane answered that for her, "well, I saw her wandering the halls, so I decided to invite her along for a study session! Her grades are rather low, much like your own"

Yuna scratched the back of her head sheepishly, "eh he he… sorry about that…"

Thane simply shook his head at her until he noticed Setsuna still standing and motioned for her to come over, "Come on! there's four sides of the table and four of us! It's perfect!"

Setsuna hesitantly took a few steps forward until she sat down on the side Opposite of Yuna.

Thane nodded contently, "alright then! Let try to go over some of you guys weak points, mainly English…" Thane went ahead and started to give the girls some advice on English, Math, Science, and some Japanese. He wasn't going to push his luck however and gave them simple advice, though it looked like it was helping greatly. After about an hour of study, Thane sat up, "How about I go get everybody some snacks and tea?"

Yuna was all too happy to hear that, "Yes!"

Setsuna simply bowed her head politely, "Thank you very much"

and Akira nodded her head, "That would be nice, do you know where the snacks are?"

a nod was his only answer. Thane walked into the Kitchen and stared out for a moment at Setsuna, who looked like she was rather tense _'she must not like to be around groups…'_ He shrugged his shoulders and looked around, trying to find the real reason for him to get up, "Sayoooooooooooo… where did you go?"

"Right here Sensei"

Thane looked down and had to cover his mouth to stop himself from yelling out. Sayo had popped her head from out of the counter and right in front of him. Needless to say, this nearly scared him to death. He backed up quickly and fell over his feet onto the floor, dragging one of the pots to the ground with him in a clatter. The 3 girls quickly turned around

"Thane? Are you ok?"

Thane quickly stood up, "yes! Fine! Sorry about that! I kinda slipped on my own feet! Thankfully I didn't put any water in the pan yet, else I would be soaked right now! HA HA HA HA!"

The girls stared at him for a few more seconds before they simply let it slide and went back to studying. Thane let a relived sigh escape his mouth and quickly looked back at Sayo, _"geez! Thanks a lot for that! You scared the daylights out of me!"_

Sayo pulled herself out of the cabinet and bowed, "Sorry about that!"

Thane simply huffed and continued his whispered conversation _"well… no harm done… except to my cranium... why where you hiding in the cabinet anyway?"_

Sayo glanced over her shoulder at the table wear the girls were sitting "um… Yuna-san got a little weird while you guys where gone…"

Thane raised his eyebrow in confusion "How so?"

"Well…"

Xx a few Minutes Prior xX

Sayo hovered right next to Yuna's shoulder as she furiously mashed buttons, desperately trying to defeat the Digital adversary. Sayo watched in fascination as Yuna pressed buttons like crazy, pulling of some killer moves. But, after a few more seconds of playing, Sayo saw her start to get into a pinch and started to panic

"no! block! Don't strike! Evade!"

Yuna, however, didn't hear her and simply allowed herself to get pummeled into the ground. Yuna threw her arms into the air in frustration, "argh! Insanity!" But as soon as round 2 started, she went right back to mashing buttons, Sayo giving her own cheers as she went along,

"A+B combo! DO IT!"

Sayo had gotten a little louder then she had intended and had inadvertently yelled In Yuna's ear. Yuna suddenly jumped and dropped the controller

"ah!-! What the-?"

she quickly turned her head in the direction the heard the shout and stared. Unknowingly staring right at Sayo,

"Um… Thane? Akira? Are you guys back?"

Sayo was surprised that Yuna was staring right at her, but the real kicker was the fact that she had actually heard her. Both of them stared at each other, each starting to feel uncomfortable, but for different reasons. Yuna stared for a few more seconds before she started to laugh nervously, "huh… I must be hearing things… maybe I should get back to studying… right after I beat this guy of course…"

Sayo, finally having her opportunity, quickly flew off and into the cabinet.

Xx Now xX

Thane started to scratch his chin, _"she heard you?"_

The ghost nodded her head in response, "Yeah, though she kinda scared me when she just stared at me like that…"

Thane scratched his cheek for a moment in wonder, _"huh… I'll have to look into that…"_

"Hey Thane! What's keeping you?"

Thane quickly jolted out of his thought process, "Ah! Sorry, sorry! Talking to myself here…"

Yuna lazily rolled her pencil between her fingers, "Do it later… I wanna eat some snacks…"

Thane rolled his eyes and chuckled under his breath "yes yes…" Thane quickly got the tea done and the snacks ready and went about helping the girls with their studies.

Xx Saturday, sometime later xX

Thane was sitting in one of the open seats, looking out at all the girls who had assembled for the study session. So far, about 13 of them had shown up. But Thane was biting his lower lip in worry. Neither the baka rangers nor Negi had shown up yet. Even the Library trio was missing. He hadn't really been expecting **everybody** to show up, but Negi was a must in this situation. The fact that he wasn't here was a little worrisome for Thane

_'maybe he just got tired from late night studying with the baka rangers…'_

"Thane-san? Is everything alright?"

Thane jolted out of his thoughts and looked up to see who had been talking to him. It was Akira, and she looked a little worried.

"Oh! Sorry, no nothing's wrong Akira-san. Just wondering where Negi and the rest of them got to…"

Thane gave her a reassuring smile. However, she wasn't that reassured

"are you sure? You where biting your lip pretty hard. I thought you were about to draw blood"

Thane blinked a few times and scratched his head sheepishly, "was I? Sorry. I was really lost in thought there. Don't worry about it"

Akira gave him another look, but simply sat down next to him, "something is bothering you. Can you tell me what it is?"

Thane laughed in a confused manner, "I don't know what you're talk-"

"You keep biting your lip, you take glances over at the door every thirty seconds followed by looking at your cell phone every 2 minutes and your foot keeps bouncing up and down. It's almost clockwork"

Thane looked down at his leg. It was indeed bouncing, "… am I really that obvious?"

Akira nodded her head, "I'm afraid so"

Thane let out a defeated sigh, "sorry… I'm really just wondering where Negi got to, that's all. He doesn't strike me as the type to either sleep in or forget to come to class"

Ayaka stood up with her fist clenched at the mention of Negi "Your right Sensei… Negi-sensei is far to diligent and hard work to even **think** about missing classes!"

Thane could only laugh a little at Ayaka's praise of the ten year old teacher

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh! Negi-sensei! Where have you gone!-?"

Now she was just getting weird

_'I swear that girl is obsessed…'_

Thane, feeling just a little bit like a trickster, decided to be just a little mischievous, "Yeah… But I'm guessing that it was the all night study session with Asuna. They were going at it pretty hard from what I saw…"

Ayaka was frozen stiff from that comment, "all…night…study…session… Negi-sensei… all night? ASUNA! YOU BITCH! I CAN'T BELIVE I WASN'T INVITED!"

Ayaka's sudden fury Sent Thane laughing. Akira was just a little confused, "Thane… what are you talking about? I thought it was all the Baka rangers?"

Thane held his finger to his mouth to show her to keep it down, "Shhhhh… She doesn't have to know that… He he he…"

Sakurako, wanting to join in on the fun, decided to oh-so-innocently put her own jokes in, "That or he's too nervous about being fired from his job if we get last place again that he can't really sleep straight"

dead silence filled the whole room.

Thane's mouth was hanging wide in shock at the revealed truth, "SAKURAKO !-!-! I told you to keep that a secret!"

however, too little too late.

Everybody had heard it and Ayaka looked livid "You wanna run that by me again Sakurako!-?"

"Oh shit…" Thane had covered the top half of his head with his hand with a weary sigh.

Sakurako, who was in the iron grip of the fierce Ayaka, nervously started to spill the beans, "Um… well, funny thing is that if class 2-A gets last place again this year, both Negi-Sensei and Thane-sensei get fired… eh he he…"

Ayaka along with the rest of the class turned to their pale sensei for confirmation.

Thane simply sighed, "Grabble's out of the bag now…yes, it's true. You guys get last place again this year and Negi and I lose our teaching license and win a one way trip back home"

"are you serious!-? Sakurako, why didn't you say anything sooner!-?"

"Because Thane-sensei and Negi-sensei told me to keep it quiet…"

Thane noticed most of the girls in the class start to give him some worried looks and some small whispers. Ayaka, who had recovered from her initial shock, quickly started to get a plan together, "alright people! We are all going to study properly until the exam rolls around and pull this class out of last place!" She quickly pointed her finger at several people in the back, "That includes you slackers who don't normally study in the first place!"

Chisame had a slight twitch in her temple while Setsuna simply kept her air of calm. Madoka, however, was about the only one who seemed partially interested, "Might as well, we don't have much of a choice anyway"

Ayaka started to scratch her chin in thought, "The real problem here is the five baka rangers… well… I suppose if they total there score, it would be better than a zero…"

Thane leaned over the desk and gave Ayaka a smile "Ah, I wouldn't worry about them too Much Iincho-san. As far as I know, Negi is teaching them, so there shouldn't be too much trouble there"

At that precise moment, Nodoka and Haruna ran through the door, gasping for air while trying to talk

"Bi-Big trouble! *Huff* *huff!* ne-Negi-sensei and the Baka rangers have all gone missing!"

_'you have got to be kidding me…'_ Thane could only take this new info with a pound of salt.

He quickly looked around the room and saw everybody's expression change to one of his own, and it said, _'we just might be screwed…'_

Thane quickly shook his head to snap out of it and stood up, "Hold up, hold up… Please explain to me exactly what happened"

Nodoka was the first to recover her breath and started in on her explanation, "L-last night, the rangers and Negi-sensei decided to go and look for a book in Library island. They said it would help them boost their score. Bu-But… sometime this morning, they never responded back no matter how hard Haruna and I tried to contact them!"

Thane nervously glanced over at Setsunas direction. Her face was screaming, _'I told you so!'_

Thane started to massage his temples in concentration, _'Ok… this is not looking good by any stretch of the word…'_

"Wh-what are we going to do Sensei?"

Thane suddenly looked up and noticed that everybody had their eyes on him, waiting for him to make some kind of decision. Thane, however, was having a mental overdrive, _'wait, what? I'm supposed to make all the big decisions here? Oh come on!'_

Thane bit his lower lip in thought, not really sure how to proceed from here. He would like to go to Library island himself and check out what happened, But he really didn't feel that was necessary since Negi was with them. No matter how low on the rung he was, Negi was still a Mage so he should be able to protect his students. After a few more seconds of internal debate, Thane took a deep breath and relaxed

"Alright, here is what we do, we study for the test coming up"

The looks on everybody's faces where of unanimous confusion.

Yuna raised her hand, "Uh… Thane-Sensei? Shouldn't you be a little more worried about this?"

Thane went up to the teacher's desk and started to pull out papers, "I should be, but oddly enough, I don't find myself as panicked as I thought I would be. I think that as long as Negi is there, everything will be alright. I am going to trust him to show up before the big test with the rest of the students in tow. Now I don't know about you, but I don't want him to come back to a class that is ill prepared for the test."

Thane watched as the girls glanced around at each other, some of them taking his word for it, while others nodded their head in agreement.

Thane nodded to himself, knowing that this was the best he could do right now, "Alright then! Ayaka-san, Chizuru-san, Asakura-san and Nodo-chan! I want each of you to split into four study groups with each of you as the leader! I'm going to hand out a small guide for you to use while I get small tests set up! Everybody else, I want you to get into whichever group you feel comfortable with! But I want this split up evenly! I'll try to get the rest of the class in today, but go ahead and get started"

"Yes Sensei!"

Thane was content to see that everybody did just as he said and start to get into a study mood. Even the ones who normally didn't do that seriously. As he got a lot of the papers together, he noticed that Ayaka was standing in front of the desk

"Yes Iincho-san?"

"Thane-Sensei… I know that you said that Negi-sensei and the rest would be alright… but…"

Thane understood her hidden meaning, "It's alright Ayaka-san. Despite my speech, I can't help but feel just a little worried myself. I plan on going to the Headmasters office after this. Now how about you go and hand these out to everybody so we can get started?"

Thane handed her the papers and she took them. Thane watched the rest of the class as they got into the study mood and allowed his mind to wander, _'I really __**really**__ hope nothing has happened to them…'_

Xx a little while later xX

Thane walked down the hall with Yuna, Akira, and Ayaka in tow

"You guys really didn't need to come with me you know"

Yuna was shaking her head, "and let you wander off by yourself? You'll end up on the opposite end of Campus before you can say Bread roll! You need us around"

Thane simply rolled his eyes at her statement, "I'm not directionally challenged Dammit!"

Both Akira and Yuna lightly laughed at his expression while Ayaka tilted her head in confusion, "what are you all talking about?"

Yuna directed her attention to the Class Rep and smiled slyly, "ah-ha… I forgot that you don't know Thane very well… well, turns out that Thane can't tell you which way to go if you needed to go to the store, he's that bad at directions!"

"Hey! Shut up! I get to class just fine thank you very much!"

all he ended up getting was a little more laughter from Yuna while Akira simply smiled at him, "It's alright Thane. You'll get better sooner or later"

Thane rolled his eyes, knowing that this was a lost cause, "So what are you doing here Ayaka-san? I can understand these two following me around since I'm so damned charming, but not you"

Now it was Yuna's turn to roll her eyes, "You? Charming? Pfffffffft…"

Thane chose to ignore her statement and waited on Ayaka

"Easy Sensei. I follow you knowing that I must know how this situation with Negi-sensei is going to turn out! I must be prepared to call on the SDF if the Principle is unsure as to what to do! I will use every available resource at my disposal to secure That darling angel!"

Thane gave her a blank look "Uh-hu… You do that then…"

They eventually arrived at the Headmasters office and Thane knocked on the door, "Headmaster? It's me. I need to report something"

there was no answer.

Thane waited for a few more seconds before he tried again, "Headmaster?"

again, no response. Thane started to scratch his head in confusion, "what the heck? Is he that busy or something?"

the girls could only shrug their shoulders, unsure of the answer to that question themselves.

The sound of the handle clicking made them all jump. The door opened a crack, allowing them a small view of the room and the person who opened the door. Thane started to grin just a little

"Ah! Takamichi! Hey there"

the older man stepped out the door and smiled at them, "hello there Thane-kun. How are you doing?"

"Pretty good actually, despite the missing of one Negi Springfield"

Takahata raised his eyebrows in an amused manner, "ahhhhhhh… so that's what you're here about…"

Thane tilted his head in a puzzled manner, "your already aware that he and the Baka rangers have gone missing? I only heard about it myself just recently"

"Yes, I'm already aware of it. And allow me to say this, he and The rest of the students are perfectly fine, so you don't need to worry. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few things I need to do. I'll talk to you all later"

Thane and the girls bowed there head as he went back in the room. Thane noticed just for a moment a slight glow in the room, but Takamichi closed the door before he could get a better view of what it was

_'the heck was that?'_

Yuna suddenly slapped Thane on the back

"OUCH!"

"Well isn't that good to hear! He'll be fine!"

Thane stood up straight and gave her an annoyed glance, "You know, you can give somebody a heart attack if you hit them hard enough… But you're right. That is a good thing to hear"

Thane looked over at Ayaka and nodded at her, "Is that satisfactory Iincho-san?"

Ayaka hesitantly nodded her head, "I guess…"

Thane then motioned for them to get walking, "alright then, if that's taken care of, how about you all get back to the dorms? Try to get some studying in while I set up another study session for tomorrow"

they all nodded their heads in understanding and Yuna and Ayaka left.

Akira however, stayed behind, causing Thane to raise his eyebrow in some mild interest

"You need something Akira?"

Akira looked like she wanted to say something, but kept biting her lower lip

"are… are you sure you should be so lax about this? if we fail, then you and Negi-sensei have to quite!"

Thane stared at her for a moment and smiled broadly at her, "it makes me happy that there are some people who really care about my wellbeing. But I don't really think I should worry about it. I'll take my chances and try to lead the class as best I can with Negi gone for the time being. And if at the end of it, you all can make it through and not get last place, then I'll be really proud. But even if we still get last place, as long as you all did your best, I'll still be proud"

Akira slightly blushed at his smile but couldn't help but smile herself at his words

"I see… then I guess I need to try my best as well"

Thane laughed out loud, "It would help! Ha ha!"

He patted her on the shoulder and was about to walk off before she called out to him, "Ah! Thane-sensei!"

Thane turned back around, "Yeah?"

He noticed that she had started to bite her lower lip again nervously, "Um… what are you going to do now?"

Thane started to scratch his chin in thought, "Hum… I'm not sure actually… I think I'll head to the library for some study and try to make another lesson plan"

"Do…do you mind if I come with you?"

Thane stared at her for a moment, thinking about how to answer that

"…Hum… Sure, I don't mind. I don't think we've had a chance to sit down and actually talk for a while"

Akira seemed to light up at his response and followed him as they both went to the library.

Xx at the library xX

Thane leaned back in his chair as he went over the Text material. It was all mostly review, but Thane needed to craft the questions, which was much harder compared to actually doing them.

Akira was off on his left, her face in a book she had picked up.

Thane really didn't pay it much mind until he saw the title. It wasn't really a Reading book, but more of a marine Biology text. Thane was curious at that

"Sooooooooooooo… tell me something Akira"

Akira looked up at him, "yes?"

"Do you plan on becoming a marine Biologist or something? Or perhaps your goal is to be an Olympic swimmer?"

Akira thought about it for a moment before she shook her head, "No… I don't think either one of those is something I'm interested in doing…"

Thane leaned back, placing his pencil on the table, his interest more on His friend rather than the lesson plan, "really now? Then what do you plan on doing in the future?"

Akira closed the book and stared out into space, her thoughts on the question, "I'm… not really sure Sensei… it never really dawned on me…"

"Huh… I find that a little odd myself… you just seem so attracted to water, so my thoughts naturally drifted to you doing something along those lines… your interest in that book certainly had me fooled"

Akira looked down at the book, "This? oh, I was just looking at the different forms of Life in the ocean, that's all…"

Thane leaned back in his chair and whirled the pencil on the table a few times, "Sure you're not just hungry? Maybe you just want a fish Taco"

She glanced back up at him with an annoyed look, his mirth very clear on his face.

"No, I'm not hungry, though fish does sound nice for dinner…"

Thane chuckled to himself "I'll see what I can do… by the way… can you cook Akira?"

"Sort of, why do you ask?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders, "I had just never seen you cook before, that's all. Normally it's Yuna who does all the cooking"

Akira actually blushed for some reason. Thane noticed it and couldn't help but prod

"what?"

she tried to cover her face with the book, but was rather unsuccessful, "Well… would you… want me to cook for you?"

Thane, being the fellow that he was, simply shrugged his shoulders, "Six of half of one is of the other. It doesn't really matter if you cook or not"

Akira cast her eyes down, her face becoming just a little pained, "oh… I see…"

Suddenly, something came flying from behind the bookshelf in a blur

"YOU ASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

The next thing he knew, Thane was grabbed by the color of his shirt and forcefully pulled from his chair at about mach 2

"WOAH!"

Akira blinked a few times in surprise when she saw Thane vanish from his chair.

Thane felt himself come to a halt and was practically thrown against a book shelf. He looked down and was face to face with Yuna, and she looked pissed.

"Oh, hey there Yu-"

"YOU ASSHOLE! What do you mean 'I don't care…'!"

her sudden fury made him flinch in surprise

"Huh?"

"Are you really that insensitive or are you just retarded!-? If a girl asks you if you want her cooking, then you agree you moron!"

Thane was highly confused at that moment, "wh-what do you mean?"

Yuna had a growing twitch in her eye at this point, "You. Don't. turn. A. girl. Down! Now get back in there and apologize and demand that you have her make you something!"

before he could even ask what the hell was going on, he felt her grab him by his sleeve and pretty much toss him around the corner, where he stumbled to try to regain his balance

"Woah! Woah! Woah!"

just as he felt himself start to fall to the floor face first, he felt said face come into contact with something nice and soft. He looked up and found himself staring up at Akira through her chest. It took the both of them a moment to realize what had just happened, but when they did, they both blushed madly, with Thane quickly extracting himself and waving his arms wildly

"I-I-I-I-I-I'm really really sorry about that! I didn't mean to, I mean, I just kinda slipped and fell into your rack and-!"

Thane couldn't find the words and just let the automatic process of shutting up take place.

Akira had her chest covered with both of her arms, her face cast downward and still bright red.

Thane didn't see her expression and clasped his hands together in apology, "I'm so sorry!"

"I-It's ok…"

Thane looked back up and saw her looking up at least, however, she was averting her eyes from his and had her right arm across her chest while her left grasped itself tightly

"It was… an accident… so, don't try to worry about it…"

Thane still felt rather awkward about the whole thing, but did as she said and tried not to worry about it too much. He quickly found his spot and sat down while Akira also sat across from him. However, where there was a peaceful atmosphere not but 3 minutes ago, The feeling had suddenly turned to very awkward. Thane tried to get back to work with the lesson plan, but his mind kept drifting to the nice comfort he had felt on his face. He had to shake his head a few times to try to dislodge the thought, it didn't work however.

_'aw god… I can't get it out of my head! It's like it got absorbed into my brain or something! They were nice and soft however… not as Big as Chizuru's or Kaede's but… since when have I started comparing the students breast sizes? hell, when did I even start to notice the sizes!'_

Giving up trying to expunge the thought, Thane simply smashed his head into the table

"This sucks…"

Akira wasn't really paying attention as she kept thinking about Thane and his face in her chest

_'he… he didn't do that on purpose did he? I don't think he did… Thane isn't like that… but… maybe… just maybe… he's frustrated? Could he really be feeling That frustrated from living with girls? Are Yuna and I driving him into a corner?'_ She seriously began to contemplate this thought and set her book down to think.

Thane sat back up quickly and looked over at her, "Alright, listen. I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to and I don't want you to think that I'm going to keep trying something like that. Soooooooooooo… can you forgive me?"

Akira slightly jolted from being interrupted from her thoughts, "Huh? Oh! I don't mind, really! You don't need to apologize Thane"

Thane simply stared at her for a moment, causing her to fidget in her seat.

"alright… but again… I'm still sorry about that…"

Akira couldn't help but grin to herself

_'he's always like this…'_

Thane looked back over his shoulder and saw the barest glimpse of Yuna telling him to hurry it up.

Thane let a small sigh escape his lips as he rolled his eyes at her, "Hey Akira…"

"Yes Thane?"

Thane moved his tongue around in his mouth a little bit until he finally found the words he wanted to say

"um… about earlier… you know, when I said I don't really care if you cook or not?"

he noticed the slightly pained expression cross her face for a moment before she nodded her head

"Um… well… actually… it would make me really happy if you did cook tonight. I haven't had the opportunity to taste anything you've made yet, and I feel that maybe I want to try it"

Akira was stunned for a moment, not really sure if what she just heard was an illusion or not. She suddenly seemed to come to the conclusion that she was not hallucinating and smiled a precious smile

"alright!"

Thane was surprised from her sudden enthusiasm, and felt himself start to catch a little of it, a smile gracing his own lips, "I look forward to it then!"

The both of them felt the air become as it was a few minutes ago, peaceful. Yuna peeked out from behind one of the bookshelves and watched the both of them continue to talk. The basketball addict couldn't help but laugh a little at them "jeez… always need my guidance…"

Xx A few days later, Monday evening xX

To Thane, it had been a surprisingly short Sunday. Of course, he really didn't find it that odd. Most of Sunday had been spent with the class, making notes, helping with scores and material. Sunday had pretty much been a Study day, and by the time it was done, even Thane was glad about it. He told the girls that they should spend a little of Monday studying as well, but only for a short while, because trying to overload their brains would have been counter-productive and rest was a good way for memory retention to kick in. So, he found himself standing in front of the doors to the library once again.

"*sigh*… you know… I'm really starting to think that a book about magic seals doesn't exist here…"

Sayo popped out from behind him

"Sorry…"

Thane looked back at her, "Oh! don't apologize about it! Things happen in sixty years ya know? Your memory probably is pretty jumbled around, that's all"

Thane reached up and very lightly tapped her on the head, "maybe a slight jolt to the head will jog your memory eh?"

Sayo couldn't help but smile at his playfulness, "Maybe…"

Thane looked back at the entrance to the door and sighed again, "well Sayo… we have scoured this library for about a week now and found nothing on magical seals. What's the verdict? Should we try another location?"

Sayo thought about it for a moment before she nodded her head, "I think we should try Library Island next"

"Library Island? Why there?"

Sayo thought about it for a moment before her eyes went up in realization, "Ah! Because you can find a great deal of books there that date back to about even the middle ages. So there might be a magic book or two in there as well!"

Thane stared at her blankly for a moment

"Sayo…"

The ghost girl tilted her head cutely

"yes?"

"It would have been easier to tell me about that first before we went and looked in other places with less magical texts"

Sayo looked at him for a moment before his words sunk in

"Oh. **OH**! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to waste your time!"

Thane couldn't help but laugh to himself at the girls panicked expression, "It's alright! Ha ha… don't worry about it too much. Now let's go ahead and go over there"

Thane moved over and waved his hand, "lead the way Sayo-chan"

Sayo was all too happy to oblige.

The pair of them walked around for a little bit, Sayo in the lead and Thane keeping close. Eventually they got to the bridge that leads to the island. Sayo proudly huffed "here we are!"

Thane patted her on the shoulder as he walked by "Good girl Sayo. Now let's get to it!"

despite the length of the bridge, it only took about 10 minutes for Thane and Sayo to cross. As Thane was walking around looking for an entrance, he suddenly heard some shouting

"YES! WE ARE OUT!"

"Huh?"

the pale youth turned his head at the source of the noise and to his surprise, saw a group of about 7 people hanging out around an old rustic looking door with a conveniently placed elevator next to it. He quickly recognized the bunch, and the one boy in particular

"NEGI!-!"

The whole group suddenly turned and saw Thane coming at them

"Negi! It is you! And The Baka rangers! There you all are! I've been worried sick and… wait… why are you all half naked?"

Thane came to a complete stop when he saw their nubile female flesh easily exposed, which in turn, caused a few of the girls to hastily try to cover themselves up.

Negi quickly ran over, "Thane-san! What are you doing here?"

Thane turned his gaze toward the young boy and smiled, "I needed something from this library that I can't get out of the others on campus. But what about you guys? I thought you went missing?"

"we where labeled as missing?"

Thane looked over and saw the curious looks they gave him. Then he looked down and slightly blushed, "Uh… yeah… Before we start going into questions, how about I go and get you guys some clothes? Don't want to be labeled as exhibitionist's now do we?"

he got a few nodding heads in agreement

"alright then. Negi, you're with me. I'm going to need some help getting the stuff. The rest of you…"

he stared at them for a moment longer, feeling a blush come over his face, "… just try to stay out of sight until we get back…"

Asuna scowled at him angrily, "Then stop staring and get a move on!" Negi and Thane quickly busted their feet and got moving.

Xx a heavy batch of clothes and some walking/talking later…xX

Thane heard the rustling in the bushes that indicated that the last girl was getting her clothes on. After confirming that everybody was decent, Thane got down to his questioning

"alright everybody. I want some questions answered. First off, where the hell have you all been?"

Asuna spoke out before Negi could even start, "um… we've all been in Library island for the last few days…"

Thane had crossed his arms in a serious manner, as if to emphasize his anger at them all, "alright… but why?"

"because we were looking for a magical book to increase our chances for acing the test"

Thane gazed over at Yue, "… a magical…book?"

Makie rapidly shook her head, "Yeah! And we found it too! It really works!"

Though Thane wasn't one to advocate cheating, he couldn't help but feel a little excited about the prospect of a magical text that could help him in his seal research

"Really? Then let me see it!" Thane held his hand out eagerly.

However, he noticed the sudden looks of dismay, especially from Asuna and Negi.

"Unfortunately Thane-dono, we had to get rid of it before we made it to the surface ~ De Gozaru" Kaede was scratching the back of her head sheepishly at the info.

Thane was internally fuming, _'oh come on!... well… at least I know there is one in there… wait a minute…'_

"So let me get this straight…"

Everybody stood at attention

"you guys made it into Library Island, dodged a lot of deadly traps, played twister, fought a frekking Golem, got a magic book, and managed to escape but lost the book in the end?"

Everybody nodded their heads in agreement.

Thane watched them for a second longer before he started to tear his hair out "AND YOU DIDN'T INVITE ME!-? Jesus! Sounds like you guys had one hell of an adventure…" Thane suddenly started to feel depressed at the situation.

He noticed that everybody was starting to giggle at him, "what? What's so funny?"

Everybody simply shook their heads, "N-Nothing *giggle*"

Negi was pretty confused as well, but didn't pay it as much mind as Thane was

"well, that's pretty much the gist of it Thane-san… but, tell me, what have you been doing while we were gone?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders, still feeling a little miffed that he missed such an adventure, "Eh… nothing much. Me and the rest of the class got down to the nitty gritty in our studies. Unlike a **certain **group of rangers who's name start's with a B, we've been studying for the past few days."

Asuna started to stamp her feet at him, "Hey! We've been studying our butts off here! Don't think it was all fun and games!"

"yeah!"

Thane stared out into the crowd of girls, "Humph… alright then! You won't mind if I give you all a mock exam then do you? Everybody else has already taken it, and if you all have done as much studying as you say you have, then this test should be no problem for you"

The girls, wanting to prove their point, readily agreed to the test.

"That sounds like a good Idea Thane-san! I say we do it in Asuna-san's room"

Asuna turned her head so fast, she almost gave herself whiplash "wait, what? Now wait a second there Negi! Why does it have to be my-"

The resulting cheer drowned out her question and everybody followed Negi to the dorms, everyone save Asuna

"Hey wait up!"

Xx in the dorms a little later xX

"so? How did we do?"

Thane glanced back up at Asuna and then back down at the papers in his hands

"well… the truth is… you all did pretty good"

Thane watched Asuna do a fist pump while the rest of the group breathed a sigh of relief, everyone except Yue

"well, how much difference between our old scores and these scores?"

Thane tilted his head a few times, not really wanting to say

"...about 15 points… so on a personal level, you all have made a major improvement!"

none of them looked too happy about that

"yeah, but on the large scale, I'm not sure if it's enough…"

Thane could only bite his tongue on that fact. True, it probably wasn't enough to pull them out of last place. Negi, noticing the cloudy ambiance in the room, tried to cheer everybody up, "Don't worry everybody! 15 points is a major improvement! I'm sure that if we try even harder, we can succeed!"

Negi's cheery and optimistic attitude gave everybody just a little more energy and belief.

"yeah! We nail this test in stone coffin ~Aru!" The girls where feeling just a little too pumped up to notice Ku Fei's slip up.

Thane smiled at the girls, "alright then! here's a little study sheet I have that you all can use. It mostly details the more important stuff that we've gone over for the past few months. Spread them around, I have a lot of copies!"

As the papers where being handed out, Negi managed to get his hand on one and look it over. His eyes went wide in wonder

"Thane-san, did you make this?"

The pale youth looked over at the 10 year old, "hum? Yeah, I did. Why do you ask?"

Negi placed it on the table, "This is really well done! Simple maybe, but very effective!"

Thane started to blush a little and scratched his cheek in embarrassment, "Gee… Thanks Negi boy. I had to kinda improvise in order to cram most of the stuff in there, But I'm glad it meets with your approval"

Negi nodded his head and went back to looking at it.

Thane observed the studying girls for a little bit longer before he got up and was about to leave. But he noticed something that stopped him. He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Asuna shifting her arm a little and That Yue wasn't sitting in the normal Seiza position, but rather in an eagle spread position

"Yue"

The forehead girl slightly jolted out of her concentration

"Huh? Yes Thane-sensei?"

"are you ok? Why are you sitting like that?"

It took her a moment to register what he was talking about, "Oh! You must be talking about my leg… I kinda twisted it while we where escaping from that rock and roller. It kinda hurts, but I'm otherwise ok…"

"What!-? You're injured! Why didn't you say anything! And for that fact, You look like you're in some discomfort as well Asuna!"

at that point, everybody was too distracted by Thane's rising voice to keep focused on their work

"well, my arm does kinda hurt from that fall, but it's not that big a deal y-"

"I won't hear a word of it! You should have said something if you were injured! Come here Yue! Negi! You patch up Asuna's arm! And if anybody else is injured, you better tell me now!"

Thane quickly reached down and helped Yue off the floor, taking her to the couch and went to go get the bandages out of the bathroom. He handed a few of the rolls to Negi while he got a few out for himself and got to work on Yue's leg

"Crazy bunch of kids… injured and you don't even bother to tell me…"

"Sorry Thane-san"

Thane looked up at Yue while he wrapped, "No need to apologize Yue… this is just me getting all parental on you guys. Don't mind me"

Yue couldn't help but smile at him as he finished up. Thane helped her back to her seat and observed everybody else as they studied

"alright everybody! I'm going to go ahead and head to my own room. You all should study for about an hour longer, but after that, you need to get some rest. Negi, you make sure it happens!"

Negi nodded his head "alright. I'll do that"

Thane waved everybody goodnight and went back to his own room, his mood just a little more hopeful about their situation.

Xx day of the test xX

*Ding Dong Dang Dong!*

Thane was standing in the class room, tapping his foot impatiently and allowing his nervousness to seep through his every fiber. He was about to start fidgeting when Ayaka suddenly stood up and voiced her internal thoughts

"What the heck!-? The bell has already rung! Where are those five girls!-?"

Sakurako, who was doing some very last minute studying, kept taking glances at the door, "if they don't show up soon, we're going to be in big trouble!"

"Forget a low score! They'll get no score!"

Thane bit his lower lip and stood up from the teachers desk, "alright everybody, the bell has already rung, meaning the test is fixing to start. you need to go ahead and sit down and get ready"

Ayaka was sitting down while her chin was on her folded hands

"Tsk… at this rate, Those five Baka's are guaranteed to get a zero… They're normally pretty dumb, but I was hoping that they would at least show up… but at this rate, our average grade is going to drop like a rock…"

Thane suddenly sat up and looked around, "a rock? Try an Anvil! We're missing two more people! Where's the Library exploration members!-?"

Ako threw her hands up in the air in defeat, "That's it! We are so screwed!"

everybody was pretty much starting to panic at this point, the feeling of despair starting to dig in. Natsume was also feeling pretty bad about the current situation and decided to look out the window to ease her anxiety. However, when she looked out the window, she saw several figures running toward the building. She stared for a moment longer before recognition set in

"Ah! Hey! Look!"

No sooner where the words out of her mouth, when Thane suddenly dashed forward and pressed against the glass, forcing Natsume to move out of the way. Thane lit up with a smile

"About damned time they showed up!"

everybody else was looking out the window and saw the same thing he saw. Negi and the missing students where running toward the school as quickly as they could, even with Yue being carried. Most of the class breathed out a sigh of relief, most not meaning all however. Thane was already out the door, passing the Test attendant on the way out. By the time Thane had dashed all the way down stairs and out the door, they had already made it to the top of the steps. However, they had been stopped by Nitta-sensei

"Ah... the Baka's... should have guessed you would be late…"

Asuna, who was trying to catch her breath, attempted to give an excuse

"So-Sorry… Yue hurt her leg here…"

"Alright… but late comers have to take the test in another room"

"O-Ok…"

the girls started after Nitta, though they kinda wobbled as they did, something that wasn't missed by the ogre, "hey, stop dawdling!"

Thane was about to come to the girls defense when He heard Negi suddenly speak up, "Um! uh! Everyone!"

The girls turned their attention back to Negi, "Please do your best on the exam! I…I'm sorry that I lost the magic book! If I wasn't so helpless, then this probably wouldn't…"

he couldn't find the right words for what he wanted to say, and simply left the sentence hanging. The girls Glanced at each other shakily and tried to put on their most confident faces for the boy

"D-Don't worry negi-sensei! Leave it to us!"

"ye-yeah! We make it somehow! Even without magic book ~Aru!"

"Thanks for taking the Time to study with us Sensei"

"Just leave the rest to use!-De Gozaru"

"Ha…ha ha…" It was lethargic laughter at best.

_'well… they almost had it…'_ Thane could only shrug his shoulders.

Thane walked over behind Asuna, who was giving Negi her own little pep talk, "Don't worry Negi, we got the right spirit for it!"

Thane couldn't help but think about that _'I don't think spirit is going to really get good grades…'_

"Don't worry so much, we should have worked hard enough to get at least second to last place… so you go ahead and get some rest ok?"

Negi really couldn't find anything to argue with her about on it, so he simply went with the flow

"O-Ok Asuna-san…"

"Ok guys! Let's go!"

"Ye-Yeah!" again, a very lethargic response.

Thane walked next to Negi and stared at the girls for a little while longer.

"Just try to believe in them Negi, I'm sure they will pull through"

"I hope… they sure don't look ok…"

Thane looked back at them and Saw Ku fei starting to doze even as she walked

"… Ok, maybe your right… you guys did go to bed when I told you to, didn't you?"

Negi turned his attention away from him "Um… not exactly…"

"…what do you mean 'not exactly'?"

Negi tried to inch away from the quickly growing atmosphere "Uh… we may have stayed up a little later then was recommended…"

Thane took a step toward Negi, "How. Late?"

Negi was trying very desperately not to make eye contact, "…2 A.M…"

"are you joking with me!-?"

"Eep!"

Thane was about to launch into a fit when he suddenly stopped himself, "…*inhale* you know what? I can't even get mad at you for ignoring my advice… I'm that nervous right now…"

Negi Shook his head, just a little relived that he wasn't about to receive a tongue lashing, "the feeling is mutual…"

the both of them stared at the school for a little while longer before Thane broke the silence, "… You wanna go check on the girls?"

Negi simply nodded his head in agreement

"yeah…"

the both of them quickly made their way into the building and found the room that the late comers where testing in. Needless to say, the both of them slightly cringed at the sight. Not a one of them was really awake, and by the looks of it, having a hard time focusing. Thane bit his lower lip

"this is bad…"

"I agree… Three days of studying and adventuring left them completely worn out… plus, Asuna and Yue are still injured…"

Thane looked into the class room and did a little prayer, "sorry guys… I wish I could use some magic to help… but I just can't right now…"

Negi suddenly lit up with an Idea, "you may not… but I can!"

Thane watched Negi quickly go down the hall and vanish around the corner. Thane was scratching his head in some confusion

"what's he on about?"

A few moments later, Negi practically skidded around the corner and dashed back to the window, breathing really heavily.

"what the heck was that all about Negi boy?"

Instead of answering, Negi simply held up a flower to Thane's nose.

"…a flower? You ran like a sprinter to get a flower? I appreciate the sentiment Negi but-"

"No! I'm going to use this!"

Thane crossed his arms and tilted his head in curiosity

"use it for what?"

Negi, having finally caught his breath, started to stammer out a response, "I'm going to use it to… you know what? Maybe it would just be easier if I simply showed you…"

Thane watched Negi as he took a deep breath and started to gather magic in his words "_Ras Tel Ma scir magister… Fragara Lantia Floris, Meis Amicus Vicolum Vita Ritatem Auram Salte Rem… Refectio…"_ (O wind, carry the fragrance of flowers unto my friends and restore Vitality)

Thane watched as the magic swirled around the flower for a moment and wafted into the room. Much to his surprise, he saw the girls suddenly start to perk up and become more attentive. Thane could only watch as they went from down and out, to focused.

"Negi, what did you just-?"

"I cast an energizing spell. It does nothing for their intelligence, but I gave them the energy they were lacking"

Thane couldn't help but smile, "well, it technically isn't cheating… so I won't think about it. But from here on out, it's their job to get the grades. Weather good or bad."

Negi nodded his head, "all we can do now is wait…"

Time passed by quickly for the students as they scrounged their brains for all the available knowledge they could. By the time the Bell went off, Most of the girls from class 2-A where relieved. The Baka's, namely Asuna, got up and looked back at her classmates

"So? How do you guys think you did?"

Makie and Ku Fei where silent and face down in their desks

"…we did the best we could…"

"and I'm happy to hear that girls!"

The Baka's quickly turned their attention to the door and saw Negi standing there with Thane, both of them smiling.

Thane shrugged his shoulders, "as long as you guys simply did your best, then I won't have any problems, regardless of the outcome"

The girls couldn't help but smile at them as well. The pale youth watched as Negi went up and started to converse with each one, saying about how as long as they did their best, then there is no reason to feel down. Thane scooted out the door and went to check on the rest of the class. He just rounded the corner and saw the girls leaving the room. Seeing Akira, Thane raised his arm

"Yo! Akira!"

The swimmer turned her head to find the source of the noise and saw Thane waving at her. She hurried over

"Ah! Thane-san!"

"Hey there Akira. So tell me, how do you guys think you did?"

Akira nodded her head confidently, "I myself believe I did quite well this time around"

Thane gave her a huge grin, "That's great to hear! But by the looks of it…"

Thane observed the rest of the group, most looked pretty happy, while only a few seemed mildly uninterested

"I would say that everybody else is feeling pretty good about it as well"

Akira nodded her head, "I agree"

"SO!"

Suddenly, Yuna popped out of the crowd and wrapped both her arms around there Necks and pulled them close together, "I say we head home and have some Barbeque to celebrate!"

Thane smiled while rolling his eyes, "Ha! How about we save the celebration for when you get your results back tomorrow eh?"

Yuna let go of them and crossed her arms in annoyance

"Bleh! You're such a spoilsport…"

Thane smiled again and patted her on the shoulder, "That I am! But come on, I'll still cook something for your hard work"

Yuna's face quickly went from annoyed to joyous, "Oh yes! I call Curry rice!"

"Say what? I'm the cook! You don't get to decide that!"

Yuna merely smiled at him, "Your making it for use right? Then yes we do!"

before he could voice his next complaint, Yuna quickly took off down the hall. Thane could only roll his eyes at her playful nature

"almost a losing battle isn't it…"

Akira couldn't help but giggle a little bit, "Maybe not as much as you might think…"

Xx The day of the results (A.K.A Dooms Day) xX

"oh will you calm down already?"

Yuna was standing over a nervous Thane, his fingers in his mouth and his teeth chattering away at his fingernails with abandon, "I can't help it! I'm too nervous to even think straight right now! I couldn't even get any sleep last night!"

Yuna rolled her eyes as she sat down in the chair across from him, "Don't remind me. You Kept me up all night with your constant pacing and muttering. And what was with the little burning ritual on the table?"

"I was doing one of those prayer things! I thought it would help!"

"the smoke kept me up all night!"

Akira, whom had been sitting next to Thane the whole time, Finally decided to intervene, "alright you two. That's enough, I'm just as nervous as the both of you, but getting worked up over it isn't going to make it better"

The both of them looked over at her to retort, but could find nothing with which to argue with and simply sighed in unison. Thane slumped over the table in defeat

"Sorry… But I'm just so nervous you know?"

Akira patted him on the back, "Don't worry, I'm sure everybody feels the same. But we did our best and that's what counts, right?"

"yeah! So don't worry! Your job is in the bag!" Yuna jumped up and pounded her fist against her chest with pride.

Thane smiled lightly at their encouragement and lay his head back down

_'Yeah, but it's not so much **my** job I'm worried about… I'm more worried about Negi keeping his…'_

The sound of the diner they sat in filled the blank hole of their conversation.

"hey! Misa! This looks like a good spot!"

"We get it Sakurako! Where coming!"

"Aw, Lighten Up Madoka!"

the sound of several familiar voices's caused the trio to look up and over. The sudden appearance of another trio caused everybody to freeze for a moment

"Oh! Hey guys!" Thane was the first to recover and motioned for the Cheerleaders to come over.

The three Girls quickly found some empty chairs and sat at the table. Madoka, who was seated next to Yuna and Misa, was the first to speak up

"So how are you holding up Sensei? Nervous?"

Thane nodded his head, "Very much so. If they keep me waiting any longer, then I'm afraid my heart is going to explode"

Sakurako patted him on the back ,"Don't worry! Here! Let me show you a trick to help you relax! Gimme your hand!"

Thane, kinda confused, Did as he was told. She held it in one hand and started to draw a symbol with the other in his palm. It took him a moment, but he recognized it as the symbol for 'Person'

"Ok sensei! Now go ahead and swallow it!"

Thane, still rather confused, did it anyway by putting it to his mouth and swallowed, though all he got was air.

"and now you should feel better!"

Thane stared at her smiling face for a moment before he laughed

"he he… I don't know what you did there, but I guess I do feel just a little better"

Sakurako smiled all the wider, "good to hear!"

"Hey look! They're starting with the middle school division test results!"

Everybody turned their attention up to the small television

"here we go…"

the small screen suddenly flashed and showed a girl holding a mic in her hands, " Hello all! this year's score average for the middle division is 73.4!"

"we really don't have an enthusiastic bunch around here do we?"

"Shhhhh! Quite Sensei!"

Thane turned his attention back to the screen

"and now for the ranking of the Class Grades!"

everybody at the table who wasn't a teacher only felt slightly nervous. The only one who was a teacher, or assistant anyway, was on the edge of their seat. Both physically and metaphorically speaking

"First Place, second year -!"

"could we possibly be…?"

"- Class F! with an average of 80.8 points!"

"awwwwwwww…" was the sound that escaped from the mouths of a few people at the table, Thane couldn't help but laugh a little on the inside

"Oh well… I was kinda hoping we could get first place… But I guess it was a pipe dream after all…"

Sakurako seemed even more disheartened then Thane

"and I had Fifty Lunch tickets riding on it to…"

Misa could only smile at her friend while Madoka laughed, "Told you it was impossible"

Yuna shook her head, "I wasn't really expecting us to get that high anyway"

"Shh! They're starting back up again!" Akira had her attention drawn back to the television, which made everybody else look back up.

However, as the list went on and Class 2-A wasn't brought up, everybody started to feel a drop in there gut. Thane even went back to gnawing on his nails when they got to 15th place.

_'ohhhhhhhhhhhh… this is not looking good…'_

Yuna looked over and saw him with his nervous expression, "ok, sensei? First off, stop biting your nails! That's not healthy!"

Thane quickly whipped his hands out of his mouth

"and second, please don't panic! We still have a little bit to go!"

Thane laughed nervously, "ha ha… yeah… your right…"

Unfortunately, that little pep talk was soon forgotten as the scores just kept getting lower and lower. Thane was once again biting nails as they got to third to last place. Of course, the nails he was biting weren't his own and Sakurako had to pry her hand out of his mouth. Thane threw his hands together and started to pray

"_Pleeeeeeeeeeease_ whatever god may be Listening! 22th place! That's all I'm asking!"

Class 2-P took that place, making Thane rub his hands furiously

"I can Live with 23rd place! Please!"

At this Point, Akira and Yuna where really worried, and even the cheerleaders were starting to feel the pressure.

"alright! Second to last Place goes to… let's see here…"

Everybody was pretty much holding their breath

"Come on booby prize!"

Yuna, having the need to crack a joke in this situation, went with it, "If you want a booby prize, I got one right here if it helps"

Akira glared over at her friend, "Not now Yuna!"

"Sorry…"

"Ah!"

Everybody flinched

"Goes to class 2-K with an average of 69.5! please try harder next time"

Stunned. silence.

That was all that could be heard at the table. Everybody was staring up at the screen, as if the world had just ended. And the one who looked the most like a corpse? Thane of course. He simply looked up at the screen, his eyes full of shock, as if not really sure if he was dreaming

"we… we're last?"

Akira and Yuna could hardly believe their ears. All that hard work? And they still got last place? Akira turned her head so quickly that her hair actually almost made a whip crack noise

"Se-Sensei…"

Thane could only blink a few times, _'so… we lost? Now ain't that just typical… guess I better get packing… this freaking sucks… well at least I've lived on the street before, unlike Negi-'_

Thane suddenly shot up in his chair, causing it to fall to the ground in a clatter

"oh no! Negi!"

before the girls could even ask what he was talking about, The pale youth quickly tore out of the café at breakneck speed.

"Se-Sensei! Wait!"

Yuna and Akira jumped out of their seats and took off after him, leaving the three cheerleaders behind. Yuna and Akira quickly caught up to him, but he kept running

"Th-Thane! Where are you going!-?"

"To find Negi boy! You guys go and look at the apartment! And if you find him, hold him down!"

Akira and Yuna were surprised to hear him say that, but complied with his demand, "alright! But don't you run off!"

Thane looked back behind him and smiled, "Promise!"

and with that, they all took off.

Thane veered in the direction that he knew where the boy was fixing to go and put in more speed.

Xx Negi xX

The auburn haired Boy finished the ascent from the stairs to the train station. He looked up at the building with melancholy and wiped a stray tear that formed in the corner of his eye. Negi Stared at the station for a moment longer before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture of a Blond woman. He smiled at the Photo, lost in thought

_'I'm coming home sister…even though I couldn't become a great mage Like father…'_

Negi smiled to himself and put the photo away, staring off into the sky, _'but I know everybody did their best, and that makes me happy…'_

he took a deep breath and let out a sigh

"Sighing rather heavily for a ten year old, don't you think Negi boy?"

the young mage slightly jolted and turned around, coming face to face with his assistant

"Thane-san… what are you doing here?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders as he normally did, "what am I doing here? I would say to come stop you from doing something stupid, But I really can't say that since I also have to leave"

Negi slightly cringed as he remembered the last part of the letter

"Thane-san…"

"Negi, please, Just call me Thane. You get that much of a right"

"Thane… I'm so sorry…about you getting mixed up in my test… your eviction…"

Thane glanced down at the boy before he started to laugh

"Ha ha ha! Please! Negi! Don't worry about it! This certainly is **not** the first time I've been kicked out of a location! And I doubt it will be my last. Plus, I pretty much volunteered to help you! So I got mixed in because I wanted to"

Negi felt himself smile a little at the older youths attempt at humor. But as quickly as Thane had laughed, a frown appeared on his face

"actually… if anybody needs to apologize, then it's me"

"what? No Thane-!"

Thane held his hand up to silence him

"Hush, let your elders finish"

Negi bit his lower lip, not sure what he was fixing to say. Thane looked down at the ground and took a deep breath

"If anything Negi, it's my fault that you failed your test. I mean, I was supposed to help you! I thought I could do That when you vanished into Library Island. But I guess it really didn't amount to anything… I just wanna say That I'm really really sorry…"

"Thane… I don't blame you for this!"

"I know you don't… But I really didn't have anything to gain or really lose with this test. You Lost your chance to complete your dream"

That struck a chord with Negi, and he bit his lower lip again. He managed to compose himself and smiled up at Thane

"Don't worry! Just like you tell me, these things are my own responsibility, and nothing you did caused it"

Thane shook his head, "But it's still true, regardless."

Negi looked away from him, and a despairing silence hung between the two of them. Thane walked over and hugged the Boy, which surprised him. Negi looked up at the Youth in Shock

"Th-Thane?"

"when My kids would feel the lowest, I would normally give them a hug. I wanna do the same for you. So… go ahead and just let it out"

Negi was a little confused

"N-no... I'm fine… really"

Thane hugged him harder, "You're a Ten year old Kid, regardless of your intelligence and Maturity. Failure really isn't such a thing that one can so easily get over Negi… Trust me, I know Failure…"

Negi felt his eyes water and buried his head in the youth's stomach, muffling the sobs that came from his tiny frame. Thane patted the Boy on his head as he shook, trying to comfort him in the only way he knew how. A few onlookers stared at them, But Thane Shoo'd them away with his free hand and a glare. After a few more minutes of sobbing, Negi extracted himself from The youths embrace and wiped his eyes

"Thanks Thane…"

Thane patted the top of his head and grinned widely, "No problem Negi Boy. Sometimes it helps to just cry, you know?"

Negi smiled at the youth and stepped back

"I think I know what you mean… by the way…"

"Hum?" Thane perked his ears up

"… could you not tell anybody I cried Like a baby?"

Thane smiled again and lightly fist bumped Him in the shoulder, "No prob Negi boy. I always keep my promises"

Negi nodded his head "Thanks… and… I'll see you later Thane"

Negi turned around, but before he could take a step, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"wait…"

Negi turned his head and found Thane holding him in place, his free hand scratching the back of his neck sheepishly, "there's another reason I'm here…"

Negi looked up at him quizzically, "what is it?"

"Well… you see… the thing is…shit… how do I ask this…"

Negi watched as Thane tried to ask his question with little to no success. After a few more seconds of contemplating, Thane just threw his hands in the air, "You know what? Screw it. Can I come with you? I don't have a place to go"

Negi stared at him for a moment before he started to giggle

"He he he… that's what took so long to ask?"

Thane stared down the Auburn haired boy

"stuff it. It's embarrassing for a grown adult to ask a Kid for lodging"

Negi laughed a little bit more before he nodded his head, "Sure Thane, I don't mind"

Thane patted Him on the back in relief

"Phew! Thanks Negi! Not really sure what was going to happen to me th-"

"NEGI! THANE!"

both Thane and Negi stiffened at the desperately familiar voice. Thane turned around and moved out of Negi's way so that he could see. And the person in there line of sight saw them

"uh-oh… Hi Asuna"

The red head stopped and looked at them both, trying to catch her breath. Before either of them could say or do anything, Asuna quickly stood up

"I'm so sorry! I'm really really sorry! If I hadn't thrown the magic book away, then you guys would have passed your final challenge!"

Negi shook his head and smiled at the disheveled girl, "That's not true Asuna. It was nobody's fault that we failed"

"Negi…"

Thane put both his hands behind his head, "Don't worry about it Asuna, If Negi and I had been better teachers, you wouldn't have needed a Magic book to pass your test in the first place. It just means we need to grow a little more"

Negi nodded his head

"well said Thane"

Thane blushed a little, "Thanks"

Negi looked back at Asuna, "I had a fun time with you all. Tell everybody I said Thanks, especially you Five Rangers"

"Oh! And tell Yuna and Akira I'm sorry I lied and That I had a blast with them"

"Hold on a second!"

Both Negi and Thane slightly jolted from Asuna's sudden outburst

"you guys are going to give up? Just like that?-! Didn't you want to be a great Magi-something or other? Didn't you want to find the Thousand Master Negi?"

Thane caught onto that

_'Thousand Master?'_

but before he could think about it, Negi took off

"GOODBYE!"

"No! Negi! Stop!"

just on instinct alone, Thane reached out On Asuna's command and grabbed Negi by the back of the Collar and stopped him in his tracks

"ah! What are you doing Thane!-?"

Thane quickly let go and shrugged his shoulders, "sorry, instinct"

before Negi could even try to run again, Asuna leaped over and latched into Negi

"I said Stop Dammit! Now listen to me!"

Negi tried to escape, But Asuna gripped tighter, forcing him to listen to the girl

"Look! You made me angry a lot because I thought you were just some stupid Kid who did stupid things! But I guess I kinda respected you when you tried so hard for our sakes even though everybody else thought we were just a bunch of losers!"

Thane couldn't help but smile at Asuna's words, and Negi was rather surprised to hear them.

"Negi-bozu!"

"**THANE!"**

That last shout sounded particularly angry, and Made The assistant teacher look over his shoulder. Much to his surprise, he saw the rangers coming toward them. But it was the appearance of his two roommates that made him take a few steps back, and they both looked pissed.

"Oh shit!"

both Negi and Thane had the same thought, though for different reasons and took off running.

"ah! Stop Negi!"

"**where the hell you think you're going!-?"**

Makie used her ribbon and latched it onto Negi's ankle, causing him to trip up.

However, Yuna and Akira's approach was just a little more Physical.

"Akira! Launch me!"

Yuna suddenly jumped up into the air onto Akira's Hand, much to everybody's surprise

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeya!"

and like a pro weight lifting champion, Launched Yuna Like a missile after the pale youth.

"Gotcha you lying bastard!"

Thane turned in time to get clothes' lined by Yuna as they both fell to the ground in a heap. By the time everybody came over, Yuna had Thane in a Leg lock, and he was beating the ground in pain

"Mercy Yuna!-! Mercy!-!-!"

Yuna simply pulled on his leg harder, "and just where the hell did you think you were going?-!"

"To the afterlife if you keep this uUUUUOOOOOOOWWWW!-!-!"

She pulled harder on his leg to shut him up.

Akira walked closer, which was the signal for Yuna to get up off of him. However, he had no time to recover, as Akira forcibly grabbed him by his shirt and hauled him to his feet. When he was standing, he was faced with the angry face of his friend, but he also saw hurt in her eyes

"why did you do that! Why did you lie to us! You knew where Negi-sensei was the whole time didn't you!"

Thane cast his gaze downward

"Kinda…"

"Look at me!"

he was surprised to hear such force in her normally gentle voice and looked her in her light blue eyes

"Why? Didn't you think we would want to say good-bye?"

Thane shifted on his feet uncomfortably

"I… didn't want you guys to see me leave in a sappy mess…"

he looked back up and was surprised to see tears starting to form in her eyes

"Are- aren't we friends? Or am I the only one who thinks that?"

She eventually let go, using the back of her hands to try hold back her tears. Thane reached up, but didn't touch her, he desperately looked over at Yuna, who was simply looking at him angrily. Thane scratched the back of his head and sighed in defeat

"I'm sorry… I did a stupid thing… yes we are friends, so… don't cry… please?"

Akira let the tears fall for a little bit longer before she wiped her tears and nodded her head

"yeah... sorry…"

Haruna, who had arrived on the scene, felt her love-antenna go off loudly in her mind

_'oh-ho! Now what do we have here?'_

"Yeah! You guys did do something stupid! Why did you take off like that without saying anything Negi-Bozu!"

Thane turned his attention to everybody else, who had watched the little drama, but where now focused on Negi.

"Negi-kun! Let's go talk to Grand- I mean, the Principle one more time!"

Ku Fei nodded her head quickly, "yeah! This too harsh for ten year old! Aru~!"

"We'll ask to take the test again!"

Negi shook his head, "No, I'm happy with your results. I don't think we need to drag the principle into thi-"

"ho-ho! You call?"

Everybody quickly turned their heads to the old voice, and walking toward them was-

"The Headmaster!"

the old man nodded his head before he started to stroke his beard nervously

"hey all. Negi-kun, Thane-san… I must apologize to you both…"

Negi and Thane both blinked in confusion a few times

"Huh?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well… you see… I was the one who marked the 8 late comers tests… unfortunately, I forgot to add them when I got done with them. Even though the reporting Club kept bugging me for them"

Thane looked at the old man in annoyance, "are you kidding me?"

Old man Konoe held his hands up in defense

"again, I apologize"

everybody else was blank faced

"Uh… what does that mean exactly?"

Thane did a face palm

"It means you guys scores where never added into the total"

Haruna started to scratch her chin, "So… maybe we aren't in last place?"

Makie nervously looked out at everybody

"so everything hinges on us Baka rangers? We are so dead"

the headmaster Lightly laughed to himself and pulled several sheets of paper from his robe

"well, since you all seem so eager to know… First off, Sasaki Makie with a score of 66 points. Well done"

The gymnast quickly turned her head in surprise

"get outta here! 66? Really?"

"it's good that you enjoy your club activities, but you should put just a little more effort into your studies as well"

"Eh he he… yeah"

Thane was blinking in shock, _'she got a 66? No way! That is awesome!'_

"next up is Ku Fei with a 67 and Kaede Nagase with a 63"

Both of them where excited in their own way, Ku Fei being joyous and Kaede smiling in her usual manner

"Next, Yue Ayase showing far more diligence then usual with 63 points"

Thane walked up behind her and squished her cheeks

"good work Yue!"

She quickly brushed his hands off and simply stared at him, though he saw a small, faint smile on her lips.

"Haruna Saotome, 81 points. Nodoka Miyazaki, 95 points. Konoka, 91 points. No problem there"

Thane shrugged his shoulders

"saw that one coming"

The Headmaster smiled as he looked at the final paper

"and Finally, Asuna Kagurazaki with 71 points. Well done Asuna-san!"

Thane quickly looked over at Asuna, with as much surprise on his face as there was on hers. Negi couldn't help but smile at her

"That's great Asuna-san!"

"so... what's our total?"

Thane quickly added them up and did the usual formula. When he got done, a huge grin was on his face

"our total becomes… 81 points! Give or take .2"

"so…"

"that means…"

Thane did a huge fist pump

"2-A is the top class!"

all the girls quickly got that message

"WE DID IT!"

Thane quickly ran over and started to pat a flabbergasted Negi on the back

"You hear that Negi boy? We get to keep our jobs! Woohoo!-!-!"

Thane started to run around in a euphoric kind of way, making everybody laugh at him. Negi was still busy being stunned however

"I… How… but… no way… we didn't even have the magic book to help us! How did we-!"

the headmaster quickly pulled out a book

"you mean this thing?"

"Ah!"

Both Negi and Asuna lit up in realization at the familiar cover.

The old man lightly chuckled to himself

"if this was all it took for people to become more intelligent, then what joy would there be in learning? You and your class succeeded because of your abilities"

At That point, Thane, having run out of Stamina, came to a halt behind Negi and listened to the headmaster

"You see Negi, the point of your final challenge was to see if we should keep you on as a full teacher. And despite all the traps and dangers that Library Island posed to you, you came out of it splendidly. Though even I wasn't expecting your class to come out at the top grade! My compliments to your students"

Negi and Thane both caught onto a certain part of the Headmasters sentence and started to look at him expectantly

"yes, you heard right. **Your** Students Negi-kun, from here on out, you are a fully fledged teacher"

Thane got Negi in a head lock and started to furiously give him a noogie

"That is freaking fantastic Negi! Wait… then what was the point of me taking this test?"

"Ah-ha… I see that you caught On Thane-san. The point of this test for you was very similar to Negi's own test. To check and see if you where capable of being a teacher. And let me say this, you performed brilliantly. So much In fact, that I am willing to even hire you on as a full on teacher as well if you so wish."

Thane was too stunned to even talk

"I… you… huh?"

Negi patted him on the back, "that's great New's Thane-san!"

Thane was still thinking about it when a sudden thought came to mind

"wait… then doesn't that mean I can't be Negi's assistant anymore?"

"That's true, you would have the full responsibilities as a teacher. But I am giving you a choice, would you like to be a teacher? Or would you like to remain as Negi's assistant for a little while longer?"

Thane blinked a few times and glanced down at Negi. The boy's face really didn't tell him much save that he was rather excited for Him. Thane then glanced out at the rest of the girls, who were still having their own victory dances. His eyes came to rest On his friends and Dorm mates, Yuna and Akira. They noticed him looking at them and they both waved at him. Thane smiled and waved back, eventually bringing his attention back to the headmaster

"…I think I'm going to stay on as Negi's assistant for a little while longer if that's ok with you headmaster"

"I understand then"

"What? Thane, what are you doing?"

Thane looked back down at the Auburn haired boy, shock all over his face

"Why are you turning down a teaching position?"

Thane stroked his chin for a moment in mock thought before he ruffled Negi's hair

"because I have yet to keep my promise to you Boy. I said I would help you become a great Mage. And I don't see a great mage just yet now do I?"

Negi scratched the back of his head in a subdued manner

"he he… true…"

Asuna suddenly came over and patted Negi on the head

"Well Negi, I'm looking forward to having you as our Teacher next semester. Like wise for you Thane-san"

the pale youth fist bumped her on the shoulder in a friendly manner

"Not sure If I can handle it, But the feeling is mutual Asuna-san"

Suddenly, the rest of the girls came over and started to focus their attention on Negi, forcing Thane to step out of the Mosh pit of girls.

_'ever the center of attention that one'_

Thane looked over and saw Akira and Yuna smiling at him. The youth waved at them to come over and he took a deep breath for what came next. When they got there, he cleared his throat

"I… feel that I need to say something to you both…"

Akira and Yuna both looked at each other in confusion, not sure what this is all about

"alright, shoot. What is it?"

Thane looked them both over, his tongue working furiously as he tried to think of what he wanted to say

"Ok… you see… the Thing is… we are… That… you guys are… I'm… shit… actions speak louder than words they say…"

before they could ask what he meant, he suddenly pulled them both into a hug

"wh-what the heck!-?"

"Th-Thane?"

he pulled them closer, "This is what I wanted to say, that you guys are my friends, and That I'm sorry I Lied to you both. You guys deserve more than that"

The both of them were shocked at him, but they lightly smiled to themselves as they pulled away from his embrace.

Yuna started smacking him on the back, "say what? I don't even remember being mad at you ya Big goof! So what are you apologizing for?"

Akira gave him a gentle smile and shook her head, "You don't need to apologize. But please, in the future, I'm there for you as a friend Thane. You can tell me if something is troubling you"

Thane looked back and forth between the two, a light blush coming over his face, "You guys… Thanks…"

"hey lover boy! Quite talking with your girlfriends and help us toss Negi into the air!"

Thane quickly rounded on the one who said it and yelled back at them "they're not my girlfriends! And did you say toss? Hell yes! It ain't a Mosh pit unless I'm Part of it!"

Thane quickly ran forward and grabbed Negi with the rest of the girls

"hey! Wait! I didn't agree to th-"

"One! Two! Three!"

They all quickly tossed the screaming boy into the air

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"GOOD JOB NEGI-SENSEI!"

Xx later that night xX

Thane was sitting on the couch, happily humming a little tune to himself as he turned the page of his book

"It's a wonderful day, yes sir… Can't get much better than this!"

Yuna, who had been fasting from games for the past few days, was furiously mashing buttons next to him

"Yeah! I Finally get to play games again without you yelling at me to study!"

Akira was sitting on Thane's right on the couch, attempting to play the game with Yuna, but really wasn't doing that great

"Well… at least we came out of it with the top grade, and we also got to keep Negi-sensei and Thane, so I'm happy about it"

Yuna glanced over at her friend

"You sure you're not just happy that Thane gets to stay?"

Akira started to blush as she took a quick glance at aforementioned individual. Thankfully, he was too busy reading his book to notice the conversation going on next to him

"N-No… I'm happy they both stayed…"

Yuna smugly smiled to herself, "If that's what you want to believe… Oh come on Akira you can't be that bad! Thane! Switch out with her! I need some help!"

The youth looked up at her with annoyance

"What? Why? I'm busy!"

" you've had your face stuffed in that book since you got it! Come on! play with me! you're the only other person in the apartment who has even an Iota of skill!"

Akira puffed her cheeks out in annoyance at her friends less then subtle insults of her Gamming skills. She decided not to say anything about it, and instead opted to talk with Thane

"So… Thane… where did you get that book? You've been reading it since we got back…"

Thane glanced at her and then thought about the books origins

_Xx some time earlier xX_

"_Excuse me! headmaster! Can I have a moment of your time?"_

_ Old man Konoe looked at the girls as they congratulated each other, but finally turned his attention to Thane _

_"Yes? How can I help you Thane-kun?"_

_ Thane took a few deep breaths and stared at the headmaster with full on seriousness _

_"can I borrow that Magic book?"as if to emphasize his point, Thane pointed at the tome in the headmasters hands._

_ The older Man lifted it up and stared at him curiously _

_"may I ask as to why you wish to borrow it?"_

_ Thane started to bite the inside of his mouth _'I don't just want to say that I want to use it to release a vampire from her curse… but maybe I can use the other reason…'

_ "I want to use it in order to find am easier solution to releasing My kids from there Sealed shells"_

_ The headmaster gazed at Thane with a penetrating stare, which made Thane slightly shiver._

_ After a few more seconds of analyzing, Konoe handed it to him_

_ "very well"_

_ Thane stared at the old man for a few seconds before he glanced down at the magical text "really?... uh… I mean… Thank you very much. I will return it to you as quickly as possible!"_

'That was easy…'

Xx Now xX

"I got it from a mysterious old man on the side of the road"

Yuna and Akira looked at him and then at each other, "uh-hu… ok then…"

Thane smiled at them and went back to reading the text _:many forms of seals exist, but one of the more powerful ones is the Infernus Scholasticus curse…:_

* * *

><p>So there we are! Library Island is now done and over with! though we only got to see library island for about a paragraph. If you wanna know what happened to Negi and the gang in the Library, go read it on Batoto or something. Next chapter! we'll be getting into the after party! and some story elements will be introduced! Lets hope to see each other there shall we?<p>

This is your ace Junki, Signing off!


	7. Chapter 7

Urgent announcement!

Hey fans loyal and somewhat new! This is animajunki here!

Now where you might have been hoping to see a new update To pale roots or love and hell, instead you get this ugly little blurb about how my life currently sucks.

I'm not sure how many of you looked at my profile, but I put up the news there, but since not many people check out a profile, I'll tell you in the chapters.

I've lost my computer.

It died on me a week back, and after saving enough money, I paid a guy to try to fix it. He told me he would try, but that he wouldn't promise anything. Turns out, he couldn't. so I asked him to try get the files off of my computer. I thought that after paying the punk 75 bucks, he could at least do that much. Turns out he couldn't.

So, Pale Roots and Love and Hell will not be updated for a very long time, if ever.

I have practically lost the will to write right now.

I had at least a new chapter for love and hell ready, and I had over 52 pages of text ready for Pale roots, all of that gone in a flash.

The only silver lining I can see in this whole situation is that the guy gave me at least half of my cash back.

That and I bought a new computer.

Soooooooo… sorry about telling you so late, but until either the will comes back to write or I can pull my stories off of my old computer, Both stories are on current Hiatus.

From, Animajunki123


	8. Chapter 8

Your Old computer has suddenly started working again. You also happen to notice that you have a FlashDrive sitting next to your right hand

What is your course of action?

[] Contemplate this strange turn of events

[] Call your mother!

[X] YOU GRAB THAT IFFING FLASHDRIVE AND J-J-JAM IT IN!-!-!

Correct answer!

You have pulled all your old stories and things that you want from the old computer before it finally sends itself to MAC Heaven. What do you attribute this to?

[] Strange coincidence

[] MAD SKILLZ!

[X] FUKKIN MIRACLES!-!-!

Hey all! guess what happened? I managed to save my stories! WOOT!

So now that means that I can get writing!

and for the long Haiatus, I give you this very long chapter! my fingers hurt by the way...

Now for the reader review response time!

(these are in response to chapter 6)

DragonXNegima2: Thank you! and I'll try to give out even better work!

APeeledOnion: Thank you! I aim to keep comedy rolling!

leo247: That's classified

Guest: Millions?... ugh... this chapter alone is already longest I have ever done EVA! so your number may be right

also, something I should be putting in here a lot more...

"word" = words said out loud

_'word'_ = stands for internal monologue or thoughts

"**Word"** Or _"word"_ = stands for certain emphasis

{word}= things in brackets normally stand for another language

Now enough about my ranting! lets read us some pale roots!

* * *

><p>Pale Roots<p>

Chapter 5: Miscellaneous Discovery

"Wake up lazy Bones! Can't sleep forever! We got school in an hour!"

Yuna bent down and started to poke at a massive lump all covered up by a light blue blanket.

The lump shifted around to avoid the poking finger,

"leave me alone… I wanna sleep…"

Yuna pulled away and stared down at the lump in annoyance. Suddenly, an idea popped into her mind and she quickly walked off,

"alright, if that won't work…"

A few moments later, she came back with a frying pan and a metal ladle, a wicked grin on her face. She put it as close to his face as she could and pulled her hand back, ready to make some noise.

And she would have to if it wasn't for the other resident, Akira who walked in on her trying,

"Yuna! What the heck are you doing?"

before she could slam the metal together, Yuna stopped and tried to hide the kitchen utensils behind her back

"Um… Nothing!"

Akira was not fooled however, and she quickly walked up to her friend and took the items from her hands

"ah! Hey!"

in an attempt to get them back, Yuna reached out and grabbed a hold of them, but in the attempt, caused them both to lose their balance,

"Woah!"

"Ah!"

they both fell over into a pile on top of the other pile on the couch. When they both Hit, Thane quickly threw the covers off in sleepy anger.

"Hey! What's the big id-"

he quickly shut up when he found, not one, but two girls laying on top of him in a somewhat suggestive pose.

There was a moment of silence between everybody as faces flushed, a few more than others.

Yuna, who was on her back lying across his stomach, smiled up at him,

"Ah-ha! Finally awake huh? And all it took was two female bodies to do it!"

Thane, however, was not looking at her face, but instead, staring at Akira; who was on top of both of them.

When their eyes met, they both froze in place, their faces turning a deep crimson. Yuna looked up at Akira, and Then to Thane. She kept taking glances between the two, when she had another brilliant Idea.

Using her legs, Yuna pushed Akira forward into the youth

"EEP!"

"WOAH!"

Yuna smiled broadly as their foreheads smashed into each other, making Thane push himself back while Akira fell off the couch and onto the floor.

Yuna was simply laughing her head off

"KA HA HA HA HA! You guys are so funny!"

She had momentarily forgot that she was still lying on top of Thane and only realized it when she felt two knuckles buried into her temples. She looked up and saw Thane glaring down at her

"Ohhhhhhhhhh, so you think pain is funny do ya? WELL WHO'S LAUGHING NOW HUH?-!"

Thane started to grind his knuckle into her head. She desperately tried to pull away, but to no avail

"OWOWOWOW!-!-!-! Sorrysorrysorrysorry!-!-!"

After a few more seconds of furious temple crunching, Thane let go and flopped back down on his back, "I don't have the energy to stay so angry… So let me go back to sleep…"

Yuna pulled herself up off the couch and gently rubbed her raw temples, "ouch… who stuck a stick up your arse?"

Thane rolled over off of the couch and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "Nobody, just a noisy girl using my body as a pillow that all…"

"Hey! Akira was also on top of you as well! Why am I the only one who gets blamed?"

Thane glanced over at her, "cause I bet you started it"

"Guh…"

he had her there. Thane blinked a few more times before he stood up groggily "I dun wanna go to school today…"

**Xx a little later xX**

"Come on Thane! Move your ass or we will be late!"

Thane walked half heartedly as Yuna kept trying to push him to go faster and not really succeeding,

"Whhhhhhhhhhhhy… we left less then fifteen minutes ago and it only takes twenty to get there at a walk… we're making great time…"

Yuna actually got behind him and started to push him,

"Not if you keep dragging your butt!"

Thane stepped a little more quickly, but just to get her to get off his back.

"Tell you two what, how about you simply run on ahead and I'll catch you later…"

Yuna shrugged her shoulders, knowing that she didn't want to try arguing with him,

"Fine… whatever… I'll catch you later Thane!"

Yuna quickly took off toward the school building; Akira however, simply kept walking next to Thane. The pale youth glanced over at her and tilted his head in confusion,

"You aren't going to hurry?"

"No… I just feel like walking today, that's all"

Thane missed the slight blush and how she never really looked at him, "alright… whatever you want Akira…"

the both of them kept up the pace, one of them half asleep while the other kept close to make sure he didn't fall over. They both failed to notice another person who was walking close by, a book in her hand and her pace a slow and relaxing one,

"Ha! What a beautiful day today! It's perfect weather for the closing ceremony!"

Thane suddenly sat up and turned his head at the sound of a familiar voice. He saw the frames of several of his friends and students coming up behind him and waved,

"Morning Negi boy! Hey everybody!"

"Good Morning Thane-san!"

"Morning Thane-sensei!"

though everybody that passed him greeted him, they still kept their rushed pace, causing Thane to scratch his head in confusion,

"What's everybody rushing for?"

"Good morning uh… Hasegawa-san!"

Thane looked over and noticed the student who was walking at the same pace as himself,

'_wait… isn't she a student in our class?'_

"Now that's the eye of a teacher for you! Noticing even the quietest one in the whole class!"

Thane watched as the rest of the students quickly ran past him, but suddenly heard somebody talking,

"The heck are they all running for even though there not late? Crazy brats…"

Thane glanced over at Hasegawa and lightly chuckled, "My thoughts exactly… Is that what they call youth?"

Chisame jolted from suddenly being talked to and turned herself to face her other teacher

'_what the?! I didn't even know he was here! And why is he talking to me?'_

Thane, not getting a response out of her, smiled and tried to initiate conversation with the glasses girl, "Well, good morning to you Chisame Hasegawa-san."

"Uh… morning to you to sensei…"

They both stared at each other for a few more seconds, a silence drifting downward on their heads like heavy gray snow,

'_well… this is awkward…'_

Akira quickly broke the uncomfortable silence,

"Um… Thane… we should probably get going…"

"Oh! Right!"

he glanced one more time at the Girl and tilted his head in thought,

"… would you like to walk with us Hasegawa-san?"

The glasses girl did a double take, as if she wasn't sure she heard him right,

"Um… what? Why?"

'_What the hell? Where did this come from?' _

Thane could only shrug his shoulders at the question,"Um… no reason really…"

Chisame looked him over for a few more seconds before she gave him the cold shoulder, "No thanks. I'll get there by myself thank you"

Thane watched her walk off and slightly huffed to himself, "Not a very sociable person is she?"

Akira shrugged her shoulders, "She's been like that for as long as I have known her. She never really does much but stay on her computer half the time."

Thane glanced back to Chisame's fading form and scratched his head,

"really now…"

**Xx Later at the Third Term closing ceremony xX**

Thane stood off a little way from the Podium a little behind Negi. They both sat there and listened as the principle gave his speech; that is until Konoe motioned for Negi to step forward,

"Ho Ho Ho… Everyone, allow me to introduce someone to you all. From the New Year onwards, he will be an official teacher at the Main Campus English department! Please welcome Mr. Negi Springfield!"

A boisterous cry sounded out from the Student Body as Negi bowed low. Well, most of everybody, Thane saw one student in particular look absolutely shocked.

He recognized it as the face of the girl he met just earlier, Chisame Hasegawa.

Thane slightly tilted his head as he thought about the girl, _'Chisame-san… she is an interesting person…'_

**Xx In class a little bit later xX**

Both Negi and Thane Stood in front of the class and bowed low, "and so…"

"We hope to see you all come next year!"

"And we're looking forward to it!"

all the girls in the class started to get excited at this info,

"Sensei! Over here!"

"Check it out! We got the trophy for the top grade of the year!"

Thane couldn't help but smile when he saw Makie holding up the Brass trophy,

"Yeah! And we owe it all to Negi-sensei and Thane-sensei!"

"because of these two, we really did get the top grade!"

Despite all the praise, Thane couldn't help but noticed that behind all of the girls, one in particular was looking kinda miffed. He couldn't help but scratch his head a little when he saw her expression

'_what's eating her?'_

Ayaka's sudden shining and flowery Aura caught him off guard however as it took up his line of sight,

"yes! Class 2-A rallied around both of these remarkable teachers, Making us go from worst to first! This makes me proud to Be The class president of Class 2-A!"

Somehow, she had instantly made her way to both teachers and had knelt down while taking Negi's hands in her own,

"Please continue to look after us Negi-sensei…"

Thane smirked a little at Negi's slightly confused expression.

However, Chisame was less than thrilled,

'_you bunch of idiots! That brat did nothing but slack off on his classes everyday!'_

The glasses girl started to shiver angrily, trying to keep her temper in check,

'_why is a ten year old working as a teacher!?Something is messed up with that! I mean, that's got to go against child labor laws or something!'_

She suddenly noticed Thane's quizzical look in her direction and tried to look inconspicuous,

'_oh shit… him… for some reason, that guy's weirder then the ten year old teacher! he looks like a damned corpse for crying out loud! He has to have a problem! And why is he still staring at me!?'_

"Hey teach! I have a question!"

Everybody was distracted when Narutaki Fuka raised her hand.

"Yes? What is it Narutaki-san?"

"Thane-sensei notwithstanding, isn't it kinda odd to have a ten year old as a teacher? Just sayin"

Thane couldn't help but laugh a little, "and you're just now finding that odd?"

For some odd reason, Thane was really hooked up on Chisame today, because once again, he couldn't help but notice her reactions.

Chisame was currently nodding her head,

'_Ha ha! Looks like me and those twins are on the same wavelength here! Yes! A ten year old teacher is odd! Keep it coming!'_

"and so… Fumika and I have been thinking…"

"…That we should tell everybody that we should throw a 'Top of the grade' party for our victory!"

"Yeah!"

"that sounds like a great Idea!"

"I think anybody who's free should come to the dorms front garden for it!"

Despite all the festivities, Thane had watched Chisame bash her head into her desk with a loud ***SLAM* **so much in fact that he was surprised that nobody else had heard it.

He reached over and tapped Negi on the shoulder and pointed her out, "Hey Negi boy… does she look ok to you?"

It took him a moment, but Negi Finally saw what Thane was trying to show him. He got up from his desk and with Thane in tow, went over to the shivering girl, "Um… Hasegawa-san, are you cold?"

She quickly took a look behind her, and with a lot of effort, tried to maintain a calm face, "No… I'm fine…"

Thane placed a Hand on her shoulder, which made her jump slightly, "You sure? You're shivering pretty badly"

'_What the hell you punk?! Don't just go around touching people whenever you feel like it!'_

She was pretty much at her breaking point, her temper was that bad.

"Actually…"

She quickly stood up and threw her bag over her shoulder, "I'm feeling pretty sick, I'm outta here."

"Ah! Wait!..."

Negi held up his hand to try to stop her, but she was already out the door before he could do anything.

Thane started to scratch his chin in curiosity, "what's her deal?"

"Who? Chisame-san? Aw, she's always been like that. Just give her some space and she'll be fine"

Thane and Negi both looked at each other, both having pretty much the same thought

'_I think we need to go after her'_

Thane clapped his hands together, "I know class doesn't get out for another fifteen minutes or so, but I think we can make an exception this one time! Ya'll can go ahead and get started on the party!"

The loud cheer in the room made Thane grin widely before Negi pulled on his sleeve to remind him why they needed to hurry. The both of them quickly ran out the door to catch up with her. But at that point, she had already had a sizable lead.

Thane and Negi moved as fast as they could until they left the building. They both looked around, trying to see if they could catch a glimpse of her.

Thane shook his head in wonder, "man, she must have been running if she got away already!"

Thane looked over, expecting Negi to answer him, but was surprised to see him standing in deep thought. Thane walked over and patted him on the back to see if he could get a response out of him, "what are you thinking about Negi boy?"

Negi started to scratch his chin in thought, "Why would she run away like that? Does she not get along with the class real well?"

Thane could only shrug his shoulders, "Not sure. Maybe she's just shy or something?"

"That didn't seem like shyness to me"

Again, Thane could only shrug, "we can ask her about it when we find her. And I think she might already be pretty close to the dorms as is"

Thane sighed loudly as he remembered how long it normally took one to get from the school to the dorm rooms

"man… the tram takes forever to get to the dorms… I wish there was a shorter way…"

Negi looked over at his assistant and then to his staff, "Thane… how much do you weigh exactly?"

Thane looked over at the lad, slightly confused by the seemingly random question.

"About 170, why do you ask?"

Instead of answering, Negi quickly brought out his staff and mounted it, patting the empty space behind him

"Hop on!"

Thane was now even more confused, "uh… I don't think now is the time to play horsey"

Negi shook his head "First off, I'm not that young, and Second, this is how we're going to get there!"

"How? By attaching wheel's to it?"

Negi would have done a face palm if his hands were available,

"No! Where going to… how about I just show you instead?"

Before Thane could even ask what he was on about, Negi took a deep breath and started to hover. It took Thane a moment before he realized what just happened.

"Wait… You can Fly?!"

Negi nodded his head, "Yes, I can. Now hop on and we can catch up to her quickly!"

Thane grinned widely and jumped up behind Negi without a second thought, placing his hands on the lads shoulders to steady himself.

"Fly on boy! I haven't gotten to experience the thrill of flight in forever!"

Negi could understand the older male's enthusiasm since he too enjoyed the feeling of flight. Negi quickly took off and started his tracking, surveying the ground as they passed the tram. Thane looked down, the campus looking even more beautiful to him than it did on the ground.

"***Tweet*!** Ha ha! Things tend to look much better from a bird's eye view eh Negi boy?"

The young boy couldn't help but nod his head in agreement. Thane patted him on the head and then looked down, suddenly realizing something, "hey! Shouldn't you be trying to stay out of sight? What if those people down below see us?"

Negi shook his head, "don't worry! I have a spell in place that hides our presence! we'll look like a bird to the people down below"

Thane ruffled the lads hair in amusement, "You think of everything don't ya? Good job!"

The both of them continued with the flight for a little bit longer before they saw a familiar shape walking toward the dorms.

Thane quickly pointed her out.

"there she is! take us down a little past the station Negi!"

Negi tilted his head back in confusion,

"huh? Why?"

"It'll look odd to her if we just show up at the dorms before she does. We need to make it look like we got off the same tram"

Negi nodded his head in understanding and did as he was told, making the both of them touchdown in an ally next to the station. Negi and Thane quickly ran out so as not to lose sight of her and called

"Hasegawa-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

"hey! Hasegawa!"

The girl quickly turned on the spot, almost not even believing her ears.

'_The heck?! Speak of the devil and he will come…'_

She waited for the both of them to come a little closer before she initiated conversation.

"… Yes? What's the problem?"

It was taking a little bit for Negi to catch his breath, so Thane decided to answer her question

"eh… nothing much really. You said that you had a bit of a stomach problem right?"

Negi, having caught enough of his breath to talk, quickly pulled out a small bottle of some kind.

"I happen to have this great Stomach medicine that my grandfather gave me! it works great!"

Keeping her face as neutral as possible, Chisame waved it off.

"No thanks. I'm feeling better already actually"

At this point, Thane had started to pick up on the fact that this girl wanted to be left alone. Negi, however, didn't quite catch that signal,

"Oh! Then you can come to the party then!"

Thane kept trying to get the boys attention, but it wasn't working all that well.

Chisame started to get a little frustrated, but kept her cool,

"No thanks. I try not to party with Lunatics. Now if you'll excuse me…"

Thane couldn't help but mentally agree with her

'_true… our class does tend to ere on the side of unnatural'_

Negi started to scratch his chin in thought,

"Lunatics… I always thought the class was pretty normal…"

At this point, Chisame had started to shake again, _'yeah! This coming from the head Loon!'_

Her shaking started to get pretty bad, so much that Thane and Negi even noticed it.

"are you sure your ok? You're shaking again"

Instead of an answer, she simply started to walk as fast as she could into the dorms and down the hall. Both Negi and Thane quickly gave chase,

"Ah! Wait Hasegawa-san! You must still be cold! You're shivering Like crazy!"

"I'm fine I told ya!"

Negi started to wave his arms wildly in an attempt to think of something,

"um… Then is it alcohol poisoning?"

"I'm not even of drinking age!"

Thane, wanting to throw his two cents in, held up his finger in thought,

"Drug addict?"

At this Point, Chisame was on the point of unrestrained fury,

"**OH FOR THE LOVE OF-!"**

Seeing her door, she quickly opened it and slammed it in there face's.

The both of them stared at the door for a moment before Thane shrugged his shoulders, "well that could have gone better…"

Negi kept taking glances from the door to Thane, finally coming to a decision about something. He reached for the door knob when Thane stopped him,

"whoa, what are you doing there Negi boy?"

"I'm going to see if she's alright"

Thane started to scratch his head, "I'm sure she's fine, I think she just needs some space is all"

Negi then turned back to face his assistant, some slight worry on his face, "But what if she's really not feeling well? She could need help"

Thane couldn't help but face palm at the boy's innocence,

'_I'm pretty sure it was nerves and not her stomach… but I don't think I'll bother explaining it to him'_

Thane took a deep breath, knowing that he was fixing to regret the words that came out of his mouth next,

"alright alright…we'll check on her. But I'll be the one who opens the door, got it? Lord knows, you get in enough trouble with Asuna as is, don't need another girl out for your head…"

Negi, not really sure what he meant by that, moved over to allow Thane access to the door.

Thane reluctantly grabbed the handle and turned the knob, expecting some resistance from a locked door. Surprisingly, the door easily gave way and it swung open enough for the both of them to go in.

They both glanced at each other and took a step into the room. It was really dark save the light that came from a tower computer screen in the corner, but that light really didn't illuminate much, so both of them took another cautious step inside.

Suddenly, somebody/something stood up from the desk,

"I'VE STILL GOT IT! RANKED NUMBER ONE BY A GOD DAMNED MILE BITCHES!"

Much to Thane's surprise, he recognized the voice and the frame to belong to Student number 25, Chisame Hasegawa. However, the thing that **really **surprised him was that her hair was down and that she was wearing… a bunny suit,

'_ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh shit… I think we just walked in on some weird territory…'_

He was quickly jolted from his thoughts when the girl started to rant again,

"I am queen of the Net! More Charisma than anyone else ever! MEN DROOL BEFORE MY FEET! AHHHHHHHHH HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

Both males could only watch as she continued her euphoric laughter. Thane reached over and tugged on Negi's sleeve,

"Negi… I think we need to get the hell out of here… she is several fries short of a happy meal…"

Negi looked up at the older male with some confusion apparent in his feature, "what do French fries have to do with Hasegawa-san?"

At that point, Chisame had noticed the amount of voices in her room to be more than her own and turned around to see what all the noise was about. The moment she saw them both, time seemed to stop for her.

When her brain finally processed that she was standing there wearing a bunny girl suite in a questionable environment being spied upon by two people who had both the power and the right to send her to detention or the Loony bin, she instantly spat blood,

"GAH!"

Negi, not really sure what to make of the situation, went with his usual kind manner,

"Um… excuse me, but the door was open, so we-"

Thane threw his hand over Negi's mouth and started drag him across the floor

"- WERE FIXING TO LEAVE! Don't mind us! Just keep doing what you do and we'll be on our way!"

However, the door had been closed behind them, no doubt due to Negi and his gentlemanly nature of closing a door and quickly rounded on it trying to fiddle with the knob he couldn't see.

'_openopenopenopenopenopenopen ! We need to get the hell out of here before she kills us! Need to call a psych ward or something! Haul this girl the hell out of here!'_

"ah! Hasegawa-san! Is this you? You look gorgeous in this picture!"

At that point, Thane suddenly noticed the lack of one Negi Springfield in the safety of his arm and quickly turned to see the boy on Hasegawa's computer. That was the second thing he noticed, the first thing was a bunny girl looming over him with a giant carrot shaped object ready to beat his head in.

Doing the first thing that came to mind, he sprung into action to save the poor boy,

"NEGI! WATCH OUT!"

Thane quickly tackled Hasegawa from behind and put her in a head lock. Chisame instantly tried to wrestle her way out

"Let go of me you pervert!"

"LOOK WHO'S TALKING YOU CRAZY HARLOT! Run Negi! Call for a psych ward! Or the police! Either one is fine, but both are preferable!"

Negi instantly tried to get them apart, "wait! Wait! Wait! I think there's been a serious misunderstanding here!"

Thane instantly stopped strangling her, but didn't get off of her.

"What are you talking about?"

Negi pointed toward her computer in hopes that that might settle the older male down,

"just go look over there! whatever you think it is, it isn't!"

Thane was reluctant to get off and let her roam free to kill them both, but he did as he was asked and got up off the girl and went to the computer. He started to look at the pictures and after a few seconds of browsing, had to admit that he may have jumped the gun. He also had to admit that they were very pretty pictures.

He turned around and saw Hasegawa glaring at him while she kept her distance, thoughts of her earlier strangulation still in mind.

Thane stared at her for a moment longer before he cleared his throat,

"***uh-hum*** … I'm sorry about tackling you Hasegawa-san… and… I must admit… you look beautiful in these pictures"

He looked back up and saw that she wasn't at least glaring at him, but she still didn't look happy.

Negi slightly laughed and snuck up on her and removed her glasses,

"Didn't take much work though"

"hey wah-?! My glasses!"

Negi couldn't help but smile at her, "I mean, you started out with such a pretty face to begin with! Wouldn't need much makeup to at all! Right Thane-san?"

Thane couldn't help but stare at her and did indeed find her face to be rather stunning. He glanced away with a slight blush of his own,

"I… can't argue with that…"

Chisame wasn't sure how to take the sudden praise, yeah she got a lot from the net, but actually hearing it from somebody's mouth was something different. It actually made her blush a little.

Negi straighten his coat out and opened the door, "Come on Hasegawa-san! Let's go to the party with everyone else!"

Before she could protest, Negi suddenly took off out the door,

"Ah! Wait!"

Thane watched as they both took off down the hall and was about to give chase when he suddenly stopped. He turned back around and nabbed a piece of paper and a pen and jotted down the URL of the site.

He tucked it in his pocket with a blush, "a teacher, regardless of his rank, must keep track of his student's hobbies… make sure she's not an internet Porn star or something…"

"It's a waste really for such a pretty girl to hide behind such large specs!"

"I can't see without them!"

Thane suddenly noticed that he was the only one in the room and took off after them, remembering to close the door behind him. He quickly gave chase to the other two and pretty much jumped the steps when he could to catch up.

When he finally made it out behind the other two, he noticed Negi had stopped, "make an exception just for today!"

he suddenly opened his arms wide, the sun behind his figure, as if to show him trying to catch the sky in his arms,

"The day is almost as beautiful as you!"

Thane smiled at the Boy,

'_quite the charmer that one…'_

**Xx a little later at the party xX**

Almost all the girls from class 2-A had shown up for the party, and everybody had brought some food of some sort or another.

However, everybody was surprised when they saw Three people start to approach,

"hey everybody! Sorry we're late for the party!"

Negi was busy dragging Chisame behind him with Thane behind her. The girl had pretty much been trying to get out of his grip, but was surprised when she discovered the strength he had in his frame.

Thane had pretty much snickered at her the whole time.

Most of the girls were a little surprised to see such a girl hanging out with Negi,

"who's that?"

"I don't know, but she's cute! And she makes that outfit work!"

Thane smiled a little bit at the activity before he felt his legs start to get tired,

'_ugh… lack of sleep is starting to catch up… better find a place to rest…'_

Quick as a flash, he found the ideal spot, under the tree next to somebody he easily recognized. Thane walked over and slightly tapped her on the foot and smiled down at her,

"hey there Setsu… I mean, Sakurazaki-san!"

Setsuna was a little surprised to see him talking so openly with her despite the agreement they had, but she kept her cool and her face remained stoic,

"hello there Thane-sensei. how can I help you?"

Instead of telling her, Thane simply plopped on the ground right next to her, leaning his back against the tree. Setsuna was surprised to say the least and was trying hard not to get flustered.

Thane couldn't help but smile a little at her reaction, "You don't need to do much save let me sit here. I'm tired and I need a break for a moment"

Setsuna took a few breaths to calm herself and leaned in close to him

"_Thane?! What are you doing?!"_

The older male glanced over at her and grinned, "Just taking a rest Sakurazaki-san, no need to get flustered over it… I'll be gone in a-"

"Ahh!"

Thane suddenly sat up at the familiar sound, knowing just who it was coming from.

"oh no…"

"ha… ha!"

Thane looked over and saw Negi getting ready for a sneeze. He was about to jump up to stop it, but quickly thought it over and leaned back against the tree,

"I won't make it anyway…"

"ACHOOO!"

A gale force wind erupted from the little body, causing Chisame's Bunny suite to explode into a shower of petal shaped clothe shreds.

Thane scratched his chin in mild amusement,

"Now that's something you don't see everyday…"

Thane couldn't help but laugh when he saw Chisame's face and Negi's reaction. While everybody else was distracted, Thane saw Setsuna stare at Negi in some mild interest.

He quickly poked her on the side, lightly laughing when she jumped,

"You got your eyes on a prospective mate there Setsuna?"

The Girl flushed in response and started to wave her arms around a little,

"wh-what!? No!"

Thane laughed a little, finding that pushing her nervous button to be a great form of entertainment

"Ha! I'm just joking Setsuna! You gotta learn when somebody is joking with you… but really, what was with the romantic stare at the boy genius?"

Setsuna was now starting to get rather annoyed and let her face show it.

"first off, it wasn't a romantic stare. And Second, I just find him odd… how did he do that with the wind?"

Thane blinked a few times in slight confusion,

"wait… you don't know yet?"

"Know what?"

Thane crossed his arms and sat up straight,

"huh… I thought the head master would have made it known to everybody. Negi boy is a mage in training"

Thankfully, the both of them had started talking in whispers so that nobody could overhear their conversation

"he's a what?! I wasn't aware of that… I wonder why I wasn't informed of it…"

Thane shrugged his shoulders at her question, "Not sure, maybe they forgot about you? You are part-time help after all"

Setsuna held her chin in her hand as she thought, "yes… maybe your right…"

"what the heck are you two whispering about over here?"

Both Thane and Setsuna jolted from the surprise guest and turned to look up at a short blond haired girl. Thane waved at her when he realized who it was,

"Oh! Hello there Eva-san! What do you need?"

The short Vampire started to tap her foot impatiently, a scowl decorating her porcelain like face

"You should damn well know why I'm here _'Sensei'_ how soon? You said you would have something after the Big test, but I don't see it"

Thane started to scratch the side of his head sheepishly, "Sorry sorry… but don't worry! I do have something! I just need to perform one test before I bring you the results."

Eva, though still eager for her release, could only sigh.

"Fine… how long will it take then?"

Thane smiled proudly at her and chuckled confidently, "Tomorrow afternoon. That's when I'll come visit you"

Eva tried very hard to not show her excitement.

She failed.

"Ho ho! That's good to hear then! I guess I'll see you tomorrow then Sensei!"

Before she could walk off however, Thane held up his hand to stop her, "wait…"

Eva quickly turned her head

"What?"

Thane pulled out a small piece of paper and a pencil and started to draw something on it,

"First… you're gonna… need… this!"

he quickly held it up to her face.

Eva snatched it from his hands and looked it over a few times,

"a magic circle?"

Thane Nodded his head, "yep, and it has to be done with powdered bone marrow mixed in with a little of your blood"

"Ehhh?"

Eva was starting to get annoyed again, "why my blood?"

Thane wagged his finger at her like he would a child, which pissed her off.

"This is being done for you remember? Has to be yours"

The girl scowled at him and then at the circle in her hand

"fine fine… I guess a little pain never killed anybody…"

Without even saying a word of farewell, Eva quickly went her way, Chachamaru quickly following her mistress.

Thane sat back into the tree, a content smile on his face. He suddenly noticed Setsuna's confused face, but waved it aside,

"don't worry about it… just a thing between her and Myself"

The samurai simply stared at him for a moment longer before she herself leaned back into the tree,

"I'll take your word for it then…"

Thane shrugged his shoulders in response and gazed back out into the party, unaware that he had been watched the whole time by a certain Swimmer.

**Xx the next day, early morning xX**

For once, Thane didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn like usual.

He and Setsuna had decided that during the spring break, they would meet up at later times. Close to around 7 and 8.

It was about 7:30 A.M and the both of them were busy jogging, each in their own thoughts as they tried to keep tempo with each other.

Thane, however, had other things in his thoughts at the moment. He hadn't forgotten about Konoka and the way she had reacted when Setsuna had been brought up in their conversation a few days ago and had wanted to talk with his friend about it, and since the only time he could do that was in the morning, he considered this to be the best time.

After they eventually got to their usual spot to eat, Thane managed to work up the nerve to ask her the question on his mind,

"Um… Setsuna…"

The swordswoman turned to him, an Onigiri halfway to her mouth,

"yes Thane?"

The pale youth tilted his way this way and that, trying to frame the question so as not to sound accusatory,

"Um… well… I gotta question that I'm hoping you can answer for me…"

Setsuna put the rice ball back in her lunch box and held the thing up, "Fine, here you go, but you really should start bringing your own food you know"

Thane looked down at the lunch box and then to her, "what? No! I'm not hungry! It's another kind of question!"

"Oh… sorry about that. What's your question Thane?"

Thane scowled at her for a moment longer before he took a breath,

"well… I wanted to know what you think of Konoka. I mean, I know you're supposed to be her bodyguard and all, but… weren't you guys friends when you were kids?"

Setsuna had to blink for a few seconds. Of all the questions she was expecting, that had not been one of them.

She turned away from him, old and fond memories coming to mind "Yes, we used to be friends… But I can't protect her if I'm her friend. Her safety is my biggest priority."

"yeah… but… don't you want to be close to her? Talk with her and have fun together?"

Setsuna looked like she was about to say something, but stopped herself, as if opting to use another set of words, "I… My main job and joy is to protect her. I need nothing else Thane. Can we please not talk about this?"

"But!..."

Thane was about to say more, but noticed the sad look in her eyes and looked down at the ground in shame

"sorry… I didn't mean to bring it up like that…"

The both of them sat there, an awkward silence flowing between the two of them for a good period of time. Just when Thane had enough of it and was about to speak, Setsuna quickly beat him to it,

"No… I know what you're trying to say, and I really appreciate what you want to do. But… I don't need any more then this"

Thane looked at her, finding her words to be just a little weak. He felt like he should say something, but found that it really wasn't his place to try to fix this. It was something that's been going on for several years, what right did he have to butt into their affairs?

He looked down and sighed a long sigh, feeling a little stupid about it. The sudden feeling of a hand on his shoulder made him turn his head, and much to his surprise, found Setsuna smiling at him,

"But thank you. Your concern for me makes me happy"

Thane found her smile to be a little sad, but really heartfelt and a slight blush came over his face.

He smiled back at her, "you're welcome… we are friends after all"

The bad air that had been around them quickly vanished; The main problem wasn't solved, but Thane was happy to note that he didn't hurt his friend.

He quickly stood up and stated to swing his arm around, "alright then! Let's get this ball rolling then! but first…"

He quickly reached over and snatched a rice ball from Setsunas hands, getting a small "hey!" out of her.

"Let's dig into this meal!"

He stuffed the rice ball in his mouth and got to work on chewing at a rapid pace. Setsuna couldn't help but laugh at his silly display and simply went back to eating the rest of her breakfast before Thane could steal anymore of it.

**Xx later xX**

After the both of them got done with their jogging and sparing, Setsuna had left, saying she had some things to do, which left Thane to do anything he darn well pleased. So he went back to the Dorm rooms to get something to eat.

'_that little ball of rice isn't nearly enough to hold me over till lunch…'_

He was on his way to his room when he heard the sound of two familiar voices down the hall

"alright Negi-bozu, we'll go on ahead and meet you there."

"alright Asuna-san! I'll meet you and Konoka there when I get done!"

Finding his curiosity to be larger than his hunger, Thane rounded the corner in time to See Konoka shut the door and Asuna walking toward him. Thane lifted his hand and called out to them,

"Asuna-san! Konoka-san! Good morning! What are you two up to?"

Konoka waved her hand Kindly while Asuna nodded her head along with a "Sup"

Thane couldn't help but laugh when she did that, "ha ha! What's with that greeting Asuna-san?"

The twin tail blinked her eyes in confusion a few time "eh? Isn't that how Americans greet each other?"

"***snicker*** No… but I don't mind. You can keep doing it"

Asuna groaned in embarrassment While Konoka giggled at her friend.

"He he… In answer to your question sensei, we were on our way out to show Negi the school grounds. He hasn't had a good tour of Mahora yet, and since today was a free day, we decided to show him around"

Thane crossed his arms and tilted his head in interest, "really? Would you mind if I tagged along? I had Planned to get out and take care of something myself"

Konoka and Asuna both nodded their heads in unison

"Sure!/ I don't mind"

"Great! Let me go grab something real quick…"

Thane dashed off to his dorm room and started to rummage around in his bag that had been the storage place for all of his stuff. He eventually found what he was looking for, because his face lit up and he quickly withdrew his hand from the bag, taking the Eye of Havrad with him.

'_Good thing I brought this out last night when the other two were fast asleep!'_

Thane placed it in his pocket and hurried out the door, remembering to lock it as he went. He found the other two waiting at the top of the stairs, one waiting patiently, the other tapping her foot in slight annoyance.

"Got what you need?"

Thane nodded his head, "yep! Now let's go!"

**Xx a little later at the meeting spot xX**

Thane was sitting on the wall of the walkway, dangling his legs as he stared down the road in a bored manner.

Asuna was leaning up against it while Konoka calmly stood there,

"…Negi boy sure is late…"

Asuna began to tap her foot impatiently,

"yeah! No joke! What's taking him?"

Konoka put her finger to her lower lip in thought as she stared up into the sky "You think he got lost? Mahora is a big campus"

Thane hopped down from his spot and nodded his head in agreement, "I agree, I've gotten lost on campus a few times myself"

Asuna rolled her eyes at him, "That's cause you're directionally challenged"

Thane glared at her and stuck his tongue out at her, "and you suck at academics, but you don't hear me saying anything about it now do ya?"

Asuna and Thane glared at each other for a moment longer before Konoka decided to intervene.

"Alright you two, today's too nice of a day for fighting"

Thane stared Asuna down for a moment longer before he sighed, "yeah… your right Konoka-san… sorry Asuna-san"

Asuna simply shrugged her shoulders indifferently.

"Eh… don't worry about it… and sorry about saying that stuff about ya… even if it is true…"

Thane glared at her again but let it slide, knowing that she was just kidding… he hoped.

Asuna lightly smiled at her little victory when she suddenly noticed a familiar Pineapple haired reporter (Or was it rooster headed?)

"Yo! Asakura! Good timing!"

The reporter turned her attention when she heard Asuna's voice and smiled at the group,

"Hey! What am I on time for?"

Asuna simply shook her head in annoyance, "yeah… can you deliver a message to the P.A? tell him That we're waiting for Negi-bozu to show up"

Asakura quickly jotted it down on paper and nodded her head.

"Sure, got it"

Just as she was about to leave, Thane suddenly had an Idea pop into his head

"Ah! Wait!"

The girl stopped and looked over at him, a quizzical look in her eyes,

"Hum? Yeah?"

Thane started to grin devilishly at the thought in mind,

"How about you tell them this instead… it should serve as a little incentive for him to hurry it up…"

Thane reached over and started to whisper into The girls ear, by the time he was done, Asakura was trying not to giggle out loud,

"Oh _that_ is priceless… I'll make sure they get it word for word"

Thane waved her goodbye as the other two gave him curious glances.

Asuna tilted her head in puzzlement,

"what did you tell her to say?"

Thane chuckled evilly, "Ohhh… you'll find out…"

Both the girls looked at each other, not really sure what to make of it. Konoka shrugged her shoulders in defeat and started to stretch out her arms, as if to welcome the sun light,

"Mmmmmmh! What a beautiful day! Hey! What would you guys say to a picnic?"

Asuna smiled sarcastically at the question and responded in kind, "I would say 'go away picnic, I wanna go home and sleep'."

Thane rolled his eyes at her, her snarky attitude getting something of a smile out of him.

"Spoilsport, you should get out and enjoy the sun more. Might help with that pale complexion"

"Me pale?! Looks who talking Mr. Vampire!"

"Vampire!?"

Konoka started to giggle at the both of them, causing them to turn toward her in confusion.

"what's so funny Konoka?"

"Oh, you two just argue like an old married couple, that's all"

Both Thane and Asuna shared the same expression, disgust

"Ugh… don't even joke about that Konoka…"

Thane glanced over at Asuna,

"ouch… you didn't have to say it like that… Though I do agree"

Thane could only shake his head at her as she smiled at him.

"Eh... whatever, let's get going you two"

Both Konoka and Asuna glanced between each other in confusion before they asked the question,

"Go? Where? Weren't we waiting for Negi-kun?"

Thane wagged his finger at the both of them like he would a small child

"tsk tsk tsk… we will be, but at the new location. The observatory"

It took them both a moment before they got what he was saying,

"Ohhhhhh… that's defiantly a good place to start our tour of campus!"

Thane nodded his head, "exactly, now let's get moving!"

The both of them quickly followed the older male as he led on. It didn't take them very long, less than 10 minutes to be exact, now they simply waited for the P.A to go out. They didn't have to wait long,

"**NEGI SPRINGFIELD FROM THE JUNIOR HIGH DEPARTMENT ENGLISH DIVISON. YOUR ONII-SAMA AND ONEE-SAMA ARE WAITING FOR YOU NEAR THE OBSERVATORY"**

Both Konoka and Asuna quickly took a glance over at Thane, who was trying very hard not to laugh, and failing at it.

"Did you really…?"

Thane nodded his head before he started to laugh,

"HA HA HA HA HA! I can only imagine the look on his face right now!"

Both Asuna and Konoka started to laugh themselves, though at varying degrees. Konoka was slightly giggling, while Asuna was full out laughing,

"HA HA HA HA HA! That is brilliant!"

Thane held up his hand and Asuna got the message, giving each other a high five. Konoka simply rolled her eyes, but still giggled all the same.

Sure enough, in the span of no more than a few Minutes, a very flustered Negi Springfield was practically running at them. He quickly came to a halt, awfully peeved,

"That was **not** funny Asuna-san!"

"not to you maybe… but it wasn't me who made em say that. It was your assistant"

She jerked her head towards Thane, who raised his hand in greeting.

"Guilty as charged"

Konoka went over and patted the still angry Negi on the head, "We just wanted to make sure you hurried, that's all. The campus is really big, and we don't have a lot of time to explore it"

The three older teens walked over to the balcony, motioning for Negi to follow.

"Don't worry, all will be forgiven as soon as you come check this out Negi boy"

Negi, feeling his anger subsiding already, followed in curiosity. He grabbed the rail next to Thane, who was leaning against the railing and staring out into the distance with a content look on his face.

Negi followed his gaze and his eyes went wide in surprise,

"Uwaah! T-This is amazing!"

Spread out before him was the campus of Mahora in all its glory, the buildings oddly mismatched, yet keeping a quant homey feel while the streets were busy with activity; and to top it off, the sun shone beautifully in the clear blue sky.

Thane couldn't help but smile widely, "that was my very same reaction when Takahata brought me up here. The place just radiates energy doesn't it Negi?"

The young boy couldn't help but nod his head in agreement.

As Asuna and Konoka started to explain a little about the locations and History of the campus, Thane reached into his shirt and fiddled with the bag around his neck, gently rolling the precious contents around in the pouch

'_Levy… Dark… Troy… I want to wake you guys up to see this magnificent sight… the vision of our new home…'_

Thane was distracted when he noticed Negi get up on the lower railing to get a better view

"wow… it's like it goes on forever!"

Thane grinned at the boy and lightly ruffled his hair,

"it gives that impression doesn't it?"

The sudden sound of the godfather theme sounding caught everybody's attention and turn to the source of the music. Konoka whipped her phone out and saw the text on her screen

"oh? It's mail from my Grandpa…"

She quickly skimmed the contents of the message and motioned for Asuna to read as well. The twin tail quickly looked it over, a discontent look showing through as she read

"…what? Aw man…"

Konoka held up her hand in apology, "Sorry you two. Looks Like He has a job for Asuna and myself"

Thane crossed his arms, feeling just a little put off by this sudden development,

"huh? That sucks… But I guess it can't be helped"

Negi smiled at them both, "Ok then, you both go on ahead and take care of it. Thane and I will be fine on our own. He's toured the Campus before and can show me around"

Thane pounded his chest in pride at the statement

"Leave it to me!"

Both Asuna and Konoka had a bad feeling about that, Asuna being more vocal about it

"I'm not too sure about that…"

Thane glared over at her with plenty of annoyance,

"what? You think I'm that bad?"

Asuna shrugged her shoulders, "I'm pretty sure you don't want me to answer that…"

Before Thane could protest, the sound of a young voice called them out

"hey Negi-sensei! Thane-sensei! Whatcha doing?"

Everybody present turned their attention to the new comers, causing a few of them to smile in surprise

"Ah! If it isn't the Narutaki's!"

Konoka quickly nodded her head and motioned for them to come over, "You both have perfect timing!"

The two twins looked at each other and then to the older girl, who quickly explained to them the situation

"so if you both wouldn't mind giving them a tour-"

"I can guide myself just Fine Konoka-san!"

"—it would really help us out"

Fuka saluted while Fumika nodded her head,

"Ok! We'll show you both around the school"

"Just leave it to us! The strolling club!"

Thane waved the other two girls goodbye and turned his attention to the both of them.

"Strolling club?"

Negi smiled innocently at them both, "I guess your club activities would include…"

Thane shrugged his shoulders as he completed the statement, "strolling… sounds nice enough"

Fuka waved her hands around, as if Thane had just done them an injustice

"oh no sensei! there's much more to it than that!"

Fuka quickly started to go into her explanation, "there are whole tournaments, even a championship! It's a hardcore sport for professionals! There are always pro strollers vying to take the number one spot in the Sahara Death Hike! It's brutal!"

Thane was rolling his eyes inwardly, _'pu-leeeeez… like anybody would believe that crock of-'_

Just one look at Negi told him just how wrong he was yet again. The poor lad was shivering in fear, "I-I had no idea strolling was such a dangerous sport… we people from the country do it all the time…"

Thane could only face-palm.

'_one born every minute…'_

Fuka was laughing silently while Fumika was shaking her sister and talking to her in a whisper

"_Sis! Stop! He's swallowing the whole thing! Sensei's just a kid!"_

Thane patted Negi on the back, "Negi boy… you are aware that she's just pulling your leg right?"

It took Negi a few moments to register what he just said.

"What!?"

Thane patted him on the head, a smile crossing his face at the boy's expression,

"don't let it get to you, now come on! We got a lot of ground to cover! Lead the way you two!"

Both twins quickly set the pace and started to march forward,

"alright! Follow us!"

After a little strolling around, and some slight explanation into the few sight that they managed to see, the group eventually found itself at its first destination and the first person they met was somebody they knew

"Negi-kun! Thane! What's up you guys! What are you doing here?"

Negi bowed slightly while Thane raised his hand in greeting,

"Greetings Yuna-san!"

"Hey Yuna! Nothing much, just getting a tour of the campus"

Yuna bounced the ball in her hands a few times before she stuffed it under her arm,

"Well, let me introduce you guys to the middle school division's exclusive Gym!"

She stretched herself out, revealing just a little of her skin through her basketball uniform that didn't go unnoticed by Thane. He chose to ignore it, though he didn't do it very well, something that didn't go unnoticed by Fuka.

"We tend to work up a sweat from about 21 fitness related clubs"

Thane started to stretch as well, "Yeah, I remember that! I wonder if any of the guys are still willing to play with me?"

At that, most of the people took a quick glance at him, as if to say 'hell no!'

'_Guess not…'_

"Geez… I go crazy one time and everybody hold's it against me for the rest of my life!"

Yuna raised her eyebrow as if to say 'did you really just say what I think you said?'

"uh…it was more like a rampage"

Fuka quickly started to get down to explaining before this could escalate, "yeah, we have a lot of clubs, but only a few of them actually play games, Like the dodge ball and volleyball teams"

Fumika suddenly seemed to remember something, "Oh yeah! The Aerobics and other lady-like activities also get to compete as well"

Thane took a glance back at Yuna and smiled annoyingly, "yeah, but I heard the basketball team is pretty weak"

Yuna quickly fell to her face, but jumped up quickly in anger,

"Oi! Lay off!"

Having got his little quip out of her for the day, Thane simply shrugged his shoulders with a smug smile on his face

"yes yes…"

Negi nodded his head, "ah! I see! It's good to see female students try so hard at sports!"

Thane and the Narutaki's stared at each other for a moment before they redirected their attention back to the auburn haired boy.

"Uhhh… Negi boy…"

Negi turned his attention to Thane, an innocent smile on his face. Fuka and Fumika where both blushing at him, however whereas Fumika was blushing, Fuka was blushing and grinning mischievously,

"Wow Sensei, you sound like a dirty old man…"

Negi blanched

"wha?! What do you mean 'old man'!?"

"Ohhhh… you know what I'm talking about Sensei you perv…"

Faster than a blink, Fuka was by a door and had started to crack it open slowly,

"wanna check out the locker room? I know you've been dying to see it…"

"So not happening!"

Negi was absolutely flustered at this point and Thane could only giggle to himself. He quickly went over and conked Fuka on the back of the head,

"alright _guide_, I think we've seen enough of this place as is. What's next on the list?"

Fuka rubbed the sore spot on her scalp and motioned for them to follow,

"Next up isn't too far away! Come on!"

True to her word, the group didn't go very far at all. To the building right next door to be exact.

"This is the Indoor pool!"

Fumika continued to explain the next little bit of info about the tour, "Our swim meet is also pretty good to! Akira-san from our class is really fast!"

As they talked about her, Thane noticed the Swimmer drying herself off in the distance and waved to her.

"Yo! Akira! Over here!"

The teen turned her head to see where the source of the noise came from and lit up with a smile when she recognized it

"Oh! Thane! Negi-sensei! How are you two doing?"

Negi bowed lightly in greeting while Thane put his hands behind his head with a large grin

"Pretty good! Just coming to check you out, that's all!"

Akira slightly blushed from his words, taking them the wrong way for a moment before she shook her head

'_he didn't mean it like that stupid…'_

However, before they could continue the conversation, the two teachers where quickly surrounded by other members of the swim team.

"So is this the rumored child teacher and his pale assistant?"

"Can this little boy teach? You can can't you?"

"I think I like the older one better. He looks more my taste"

Thane couldn't help but notice the large amount of interest he was receiving and tried to find a way out, feeling just a little claustrophobic due to all the attention. He was happy to note that Negi was just as nervous and flustered as he was, though for different reasons. Not wanting to remain the center of attention forever, Thane quickly grabbed Negi by the collar of his shirt and pulled him aside

"I hate to interrupt this little session ladies, But My friend and I really should be going"

he raised his hand at a particular swimmer and waved

"Catch you later Akira!"

Before he could even see her reaction, Thane quickly nodded at the other two girls, a slight smile on his face saying

'_nice try kid's'_

Fumika stared at her sister and chuckled sheepishly while the twin snapped her fingers,

"shoot… we'll get em with the next one… alright you two! Let's head to our next destination!"

Thane finally let Negi walk on his own and crossed his arms, knowing that at least one of the two twins was up to something,

"Oh? And where is this going to take us?"

Fuka started to laugh under her breath, "Oh… you'll find out…"

Negi, being the child that he was, didn't suspect a thing.

"Alright then! lead the way you two!"

And they did just that, right outside the door and into a large court yard filled with tons of people playing and practicing outdoor sports.

"This is the outdoor athletics department and where most of the clubs go to practice"

Fumika pointed out a few places with her hand while getting their attention, "there tends to be a lot of people, but not a lot of space, so most people end up arguing over court room… like those guys over there"

Thane and Negi looked over and saw what looked like two captains of separate clubs getting into a heated argument. Negi was about to get involved, but Thane placed his hand on his shoulder

"Might not want to do that Negi Boy, Let the P.E teacher take care of it"

Negi was about to argue, but Thane simply shook his head at the coming protest.

"Don't worry about it. They won't end up fighting if that's what you're worried about. How about you re-direct your gaze over somewhere else? Like over yonder?"

Thane turned the boy in a random direction and they both ended up getting an eyeful of a familiar girl's ass, namely Sakurako's. Both males were stunned for a short period of time until the cheerleader noticed them.

"Oh! Hey Negi-kun! Thane-san! What are you two doing here?"

Thane stared at her for a moment longer before he gave her a serious nod,

"Just enjoying the sights Sakurako… the nice round sights…"

'_I love this school.'_

Sakurako and Negi both missed the hidden innuendo, But both Misa and Madoka caught the hidden meaning,

"They're checking you out Sakurako"

Misa lifted her leg up oh so slightly, just enough to give her a provocative look,

"Ha! Please Madoka, like these things where made to discourage stares! Feel free to keep looking you two, we don't mind"

Thane smiled despite himself

"I think I'll do just that"

Negi, however, had gone quite in embarrassment, a fact that was easily identified by his burning red face. Both the Narutaki's started to giggle with Fumika poking him in the cheek

"Ah! Sensei's finally stuck for words!"

Fuka started to jab him lightly in the stomach with her elbow, a mischief making grin plastered on her face

"All this sexiness got you Nervous?"

Thane started to giggle from Negi's embarrassment and crossed his arms, turning his attention back to the three cheerleaders.

"So what brings you guys out here Thane-sensei?"

Madoka had put her Pom-pom's down and came over to greet them followed by Misa and Sakurako

"Oh, nothing much. Just getting a prime tour of the Campus is all. And since I'm the only one close to a legal guardian age, I went along. Though I will say, the Twins are dead set on getting us into compromising situations. Not that I'm complaining, just too many nice things to see"

Thane let his eyes linger on the girls Cheerleading uniforms for a second longer, as if to emphasize his last point. Misa slightly moved her leg a little to show off more skin and pushed her hair back a little

"Might want to be careful Sensei, Let those eye's stare any longer and we might just have to start charging you"

Thane let out a loud laugh, "Ha! If you're gonna start charging me then I think I would call for a little more Privacy! Maybe a privet show?"

Misa suddenly had a sultry smile on her face and winked at him,

"maybe… if I didn't already have a boyfriend"

"Gah! Shot down before the real flirting could start! Oh well…"

Misa quickly wrapped her arms around her friends and pulled them closer to herself, "I might not be available… but I know for a fact that these two are"

Madoka quickly pulled herself away,

"wh-?! Don't drag me into your stupid stuff!"

Sakurako quickly raised her hand, "Sounds like Fun! I'll bring the game boards!"

Thane and the other two cheerleaders stared at her in disbelief before they started to laugh, "Ha ha!~ that was priceless Shiina-san!"

Thane held his stomach and trying hard not to laugh himself hoarse. Misa patted her Partner on the shoulder, seeing the girl's cutely confused face,

"Don't worry about it Sakurako… Just another over-your-head deals"

Thane finally stopped laughing and let out a content sigh

"But really, I would like to get to know you guys better, maybe we could hang out sometime soon? Let me give you my number for later"

After pulling out a convenient pen and paper, he wrote his Cell number down and eyed the three, trying to pick the most responsible recipient

"And I think that I'll give this to you Dear Madoka-san. You look to be the most responsible"

Madoka blinked a few times in confusion.

"Huh? Wh-why me?"

Thane held her hand up and put the paper in her palm, smiling at her "Simply because you look like you won't call me every two minutes for random things"

Madoka looked back at her two friends and simply shrugged her shoulders, "alright… if I have to…"

"Great! Now where did Negi and the twins get to…"

"YOU GUY'S DETERMINATION TO SHOW ME ALL THIS STUFF IS WHAT MAKES ME NERVOUS!"

Thane quickly turned around and saw Negi chasing the Narutaki twins around.

"Ha! Looks like I better go and get them, the work of a parent is never done! Catch you three later!"

After waving the Cheerleaders off, Thane quickly chased after the three children.

"Hey wait up you three!"

After what had to have been 6 minutes of a wild goose chase, Thane finally managed to catch up with them, but that was only because they ran out of breath first.

"*Huff huff* Damn you guys… Do we really have time to be playing around?"

Fumika finally managed to catch her breath and laugh awkwardly,

"eh he he… True, but I don't think we would have had enough time to see everything anyway…"

Fuka started to scratch the back of her head sheepishly

"yeah, there's over 160 clubs… so it might have been a little hard to do…"

Negi blinked his eyes in shock and awe,

"Good lord! What kinda school is this!?"

Thane also nodded his head in wonder, "I knew we had a lot of clubs, but Jeez… Not that many! I think we need to change our game plan up a little bit, it's going to start getting late soon, so let's try going somewhere else for now"

Both Fuka and Fumika looked at each other and grinned broadly. Fumika grabbed onto Thanes arm and tried to drag him along, "Then we have a brilliant Idea! How about we get something to eat?"

Negi nodded his head at the idea, "Sure! I'm game"

Fuka started to Elbow Negi in the ribs.

"And since you both are the adults, you guys are payin, Right Sensei?"

Thane ruffled the girl's hair, putting her in momentary shock

"sure! But I'll only pay for one of you while Negi gets the other, deal?"

Both twins gave a nod and latched onto one of them, Fuka grabbing Negi while Fumika grabbed Thane.

"Deal!"

Thane smiled widely as he let the younger girl drag him along,

"so where are we headed?"

"You'll find out Sensei!"

After what had to have been several minutes of traveling crowded streets, they eventually made their way to one of the many student cafés.

Fumika quickly tugged on Thane's sleeve like an exuberant little sister in a candy store

"This place is perfect! From the roof to underground, they have all types of food from anywhere! And a countless number of food stores to go with them!"

"Sounds interesting. Let's see if it lives up to that reputation then shall we?"

The four of them quickly found an unoccupied table and made their orders. Thane and Negi simply got beverages and sandwiches while the twins pretty much went all out with their orders.

All of it sweets of course.

By the time Negi and Thane had finished their own light meal, the twins had eaten double that in massive quantities.

Thane had his eyebrow cocked upward in a semi-surprised look

"good lord you two, did you even **taste **the food? As a matter of fact, did you even **breath**?"

Both the twins looked over at him past their newest confection and nodded their heads

"Yup!"

"we're good at eating fast, it's part of Kaede's training!"

And just like that, they where back to chowing down on what hopefully was the last thing they were going to order.

Thane shrugged his shoulders

'_training for what?'_

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmhhhhhhh! This Mango chocolate pudding Parfait is dee-licious!"

Fuka started to try to shove as much of the confection in her mouth as possible while Fumika held her free hand to her cheek, as if overpowering nature of the pudding was too much for her little mouth to handle,

"Uh hu. It's this month's newest creation"

Thane was interrupted from his Twin observation when he noticed the server come back with yet **another** dessert, some kind of large banana smoothie. Both Negi and Thane had nearly identical thoughts

'_man, they sure can put it away…'_

Despite the silliness of their actions and the gluttonies nature of their appetites, Thane couldn't help but have a feeling of Nostalgia come over him from watching the display. So much in fact, that he put his right elbow on the table and leaned his head up against his hand and smile contently.

'_What a good feeling… makes me feel like I'm watching my own Kids again…'_

Fumika, in the middle of another bite of her pudding, suddenly felt an idea pop into her mind and looked over at Negi, the spoon moving away from her mouth and Toward Negi

"Hey hey! Sensei, Open wide!"

Negi flustered and shook his head at the gesture

"N-No Thanks!"

Feeling just a little dejected, the Twin realized that there was a second person she could try it with and re-directed her attention,

"How about you Thane-sensei? Open wide!"

Thane blinked a few times, his happy trip down memory lane being slightly jarred

"Hum? Oh! Sure! Ahhhhhhhhhh…"

Both of the Girls' giggled madly and Fumika put the spoon in his mouth, which Thane chomped down on happily

"Mmm… Tasty!"

Negi slightly blushed and started to flap his arms wildly, "Th-Thane-san! What are you doing!?"

Thane glanced over at Negi with a bemused expression,

"what? It's just a harmless little thing."

"Bu-But!"

Thane reached over and ruffled the boy's hair fondly,

"Relax Negi boy. No harm done, so don't worry about it. You gotta learn to chill every once in a while"

Negi really didn't chill out, but decided that it really was Thane just being friendly and shrugged his shoulders in defeat. The young Welsh boy turned his attention back to the twins, who were busy feeding each other their own little morsels of food from their plates and smiled at them both, losing himself in his own thoughts about the twins.

Thane also had his attention back to them both and laughed a little at them,

"Ha! Hard to imagine that you both are really fifteen; At first glance, one would think you where grade schoolers, the fact that you tend to act like it as well doesn't tend to help either… maybe if you had more of a rack or something…"

Both twins sputtered at his blatant insult to their figures, but Fuka was the one who retorted

"Excuse me!? Who you calling a kid!? We're just late bloomers is all! Just wait a few years, then you're jaw will hit the floor!"

At this, Thane just couldn't help but smirk

"Oh ho, planning on getting as big as Naba-san?"

"Even Bigger!"

Thane actually had to hold his mouth in check in fear that he was going to burst out laughing

"Ha! You better get started then, cause that'll take a while! Or…"

He Glanced at the girl and started to laugh a rather evil laugh while his hand's started to twitch in a leery way

"I **could** help you out… they say that massaging them helps them grow bigger… Uf fufufufufufu…"

Fuqua subconsciously crossed her hands over her chest and leaned her body away from him as far as possible without falling out of the chair while Fumika starting blubber incoherent words and blushing very hard.

Negi was too busy writing in his little book to notice his assistant's obvious sexual harassment of the students at the moment.

However, as quickly as it started, Thane went back to Normal and started to giggle uncontrollably

"Ke he he he he… you didn't think I was being serious did you? Like I would actually touch somebody, I'd be too scared of going to jail"

Both Fuka and Fumika however, instead of having looks of relief, both eyed him up and down

"Sensei…"

"You're secretly a Lolicon aren't you?"

The resounding smack of a forehead to the Glass top of the table was so strong that everybody within about a ten foot radius thought that somebody had smashed a wooden block against one of them.

Thane quickly sat back up and looked over at them with mixed expressions of Shock and annoyance

"_SAY WHAT!-?-! _That's complete bull!-!-! How'd you come to that conclusion!-?-!"

Fuka raised her finger in an oh so smart manner and went into the explanation,

"Well… your rooming with both Yuna and Akira-san and yet you haven't made a move on either one. This makes me think you're either a Lolicon or borderline Gay"

Thane's mouth was hanging wide open, that's just how outrageous he thought the claims they were making where

"**I AM NOT GAY!"**

Fuka, feeling that she was getting the upper hand, grinned mischievously

"So you say and deny with all your being, but you have yet to do so with the Claims of Lolicon, do you admit it?"

"SHUT UP YA LITTLE HALF PINT!"

Fumika, being the more level headed of the two at the moment, decided in that moment that she didn't want to see her sister die just yet and her Sensei shipped off to jail. So she decided to Diffuse the situation the best way she knew how, and that's through strategic diversion

"Ah! What're you writing there Negi-sensei?"

Negi, who had been oh-so-conveniently distracted the whole time, quickly Jolted to attention and pulled his roster out of her sight,

"N-Nothing! Nothing at all! Just teacher stuff!"

Both Fuka and Thane turned their attention to the new target.

Fuka and Thane where interested in Negi's reaction, but both for entirely different reasons.

Wanting to divert the sudden attention on him and his roster, Negi clapped his hands together and smiled as normally as possible without letting a lot of his nervousness into it,

"w-Well then… I think it's time to call it a day. It's going to be turning evening soon and as your teacher, I need to make sure that you both head back to the dorms as early as possible"

Thane let out a loud sigh, feeling that he didn't get as much exploring done as he wanted

"A pity, but he does have a point"

Both the Narutaki's quickly got out of there Chair's and shook their heads

"Oh don't say that Yet you two!"

"Yeah! We still have one more really important place to show you!"

Both Thane and Negi Glanced at each other, as if to see if the other knew exactly what the twin's where talking about, but since neither one of them was a mind reader… well a decent mind reader, they had no clue and simply shrugged their shoulders.

Thane got up and straightened his clothes out, "Alright, as the adult of the group, I suppose we can visit one more place, but it's kinda up to Negi. So what do you say?"

The auburn haired boy thought it over for a moment before he nodded his head, "I don't see the harm in it"

Both Twins grinned widely and latched onto each of the Teachers, Fuka nabbing Negi While Fumika pulled on Thanes sleeve,

"Great! Come on then! Let's get going!"

**Xx Sometime later xX**

Thane and Negi were starting to get out of breath; the twins had set a pretty harsh pace and had not let up for even a minute, continually dragging the two teachers with no rest.

Thane, being pulled on by Fumika, Looked around and saw that, wherever they where, it was getting pretty far out. This was easily noticed when the amount of concrete starts to become sparse and the trees are more abundant then one would think possible in a City Campus.

Thane's attention was drawn back to the group when Negi spoke up, somewhat out of breath,

"Wh-What in the world could possibly be in the back of these hills that warrant such hurry?"

Thane shook his head in agreement, "I have to ask that question myself…"

Fumika got behind Thane and started to push him forward,

"It's just a little further Sensei! Hang in there!"

Deciding that it probably isn't that much further, Thane and Negi decided to go ahead and trudge on for a little while longer until they were rewarded with the sight of their destination.

Fuka quickly pointed that fact out to them both because they had started to get a little tired of seeing the same woods for the past thirty yards,

"Ah! I can see it from here!"

The two males turned their attention to the direction she was pointing and couldn't help but stop in their tracks.

Standing before them was the massive tree that could be seen all across Campus, but they were actually pretty close to it this time around, and the closeness of the tree added to its massive effect, making it seem as if it was much larger than before.

Negi went wide eyed in wonder while Thane had something of a lesser reaction, but there was no less Awe then Negi

'_I know I've seen trees in Estoria that make this one seem Miniscule in comparison, but… something about it seems… Grand. It's a very old tree, that much I can tell'_

Negi Continued to look the tree up and down, the sheer size and volume of it leaving him almost at a loss for words. But one must speak eventually, even if to convey simple questions and statement's

"This tree… I've seen it all over campus… but not from this close, it's absolutely massive!"

Fumika, getting into her guide mode again, started going into explanation,

"Yeah! They say that this tree was here before the Campus was built. Nobody knows what its real name is, but everybody calls it the World Tree"

At that, Negi looked at the twins with a perplexed expression,

"The World…Tree?"

"What? You never heard of the World Tree sensei? It's that one thing you revive with an item in Dragon Quest"

"Fuka! Of course he's never heard of it! He's British!"

The twin-tailed twin lightly sighed to herself and turned to Thane,

"What about you Thane-sensei? I heard Americans where really big on games, you've heard of it before right?"

Thane lifted his hand and tilted it side to side a few times in thought,

"Ehhh… I've heard of 'a' world tree, but I'm not sure it's the same one you're thinking about"

Fuka, having pretty much run into a brick wall with these two, sighed in defeat

"Eh… whatever… Come on! Times wasting and we don't wanna miss the good part!"

Both the Twins dashed off towards the tree, leaving both teachers scrambling after them in confusion,

"What? Miss what you two?"

By the time they finally managed to catch up, they were surprised to see the both of them starting to climb the Gnarled and heavily grooved Bark of the tree.

"Fuka-san! Fumika-san! What on earth are you two doing!? You could get hurt!"

Thane nodded his head, "Gonna have to agree with Negi boy on that one, but what are you two trying to do?"

Fuka, who had already gotten a few feet up, turned her head around and grinned broadly,

"What's it look like? Climbing the world tree!"

Negi was starting to Panic While Thane rolled his eyes, "we can see that, why though?"

Both the Twins looked from the two teachers and then to each other, smiling and giggling all secretively

"You're just going to have to follow us to find out!"

Thane scrunched his brow in annoyance,

"is that supposed to entice us?... cause it's working on me, wait up!"

Thane quickly followed behind the twins and also started to climb the tree. Negi, whom had just lost the support of his assistant, started to fidget nervously, taking a sideways glance this way and that in case anybody was watching them.

"Ohhhhhhh… I don't like this!"

When in Rome, do what the Romans do, or in this case, the Narutaki's.

Negi ran forward and followed behind them, showing a surprising agility for one his age. However, Since Both Males had never attempted to Climb this Tree before, they had to follow most of the same path that The twins did, This was easier for Negi since they were similar in height, But Thane had it a little harder since his height was twice there's, so Thane pretty much had to find his own way to climb.

Despite the few mishaps, mostly in the form of Fuka trying to knock Thane down, everybody managed to make it to one of the Larger Branches.

Thane helped Negi climb the last of the way up and they both sat down on the Branch While the Twins stared down at both of them.

Fuka smiled wide and had her hands behind her head,

"Huh, wasn't expecting you to make it Up Thane-sensei, good Job"

The Pale Youth stared her down with extreme annoyance

"yeah, no Thanks to you Half-pint"

The twin-tail simply smiled at his Sarcasm and looked out into the Horizon, her features changing along with her sisters.

Fumika, seemingly being the Fount of Knowledge among the two, decided to go into a little trivia mode,

"Hey, Sensei. Did you know that this tree has a lot of Legends surrounding it? You'll often hear about them from a lot of people, some Legends say that This tree is really a powerful Land God sealed away thousands of years ago, while some of the Darker Legends say that it's actually A cursed Tree that devours Humans in its roots. But the Most popular one is really simple"

Thane glanced over at them both, his curiosity having been pricked a little,

"And what is it?"

Fumika lightly giggle as she sat down next to Him, her feet dangling off the edge of the branch

"They say that if those with unrequited Love confess their feelings to the One they Love under the Boughs of this tree, then that confession will come true"

Fuka sat Down Next to Negi and her sister, the Both of them staring out into the Sky with a set of serious looks that Thane wasn't used to seeing on their faces.

"Someday… Fumika and I will also…"

The mentioned twin nodded her head in understanding of her sisters thoughts. Negi felt a small sense of respect grow in his chest for the two girls while Thane smiled like a father

'_One day, even these two will outgrow their childishness and find a meaning to their lives… such is the way of life and all things…I pray that it comes in it's appropriate time…'_

Thane turned his attention back out into the sky, letting his thoughts drift with the slight breeze around the Branches

'_Loved one huh… I wish I knew about that when Lif and Oswald where trying to get together… would have saved me a world of headaches… he he… oh well… I wonder if there's anybody who I could confess to under this tree…'_

Instantly, his thoughts turned to a few girls, _'Sayo-chan? That would be nice… Yuna? Ehhhhhhhh… maybe not, she doesn't seem like girlfriend material… not for me anyway… Madoka? I barely know her, what am I on about? Oh! Evangeline? She'd probably rip my head off, but the act of seeing her fluster like a little girl would be sooooooooooooooo worth it… oh, oh! Setsuna! Now that would be funny! She might take it seriously however…'_

Suddenly, his thoughts turned to one girl in particular.

'_Akira… maybe… nonononononononono! She's a good friend! Don't think of her that way!'_

Thane quickly shook his head and tried to hide his embarrassment with a mask of serious on his face,

'_why am I thinking of girls from this world anyway? I bet a few girls from Estoria would come to mind if I let them…'_

He sat there and thought, and thought, and thought till he could think no more and came to a realization

'_wow… I'm a really really sad man. I don't even think I know more than four women who would even be slightly interested in me and vice versa… a bachelor at my age? I gotta fix that soon…'_

"Oh! Fumika!"

Thane was pulled from his thoughts when the Sound of Fuka's voice touched his ears,

"I just had a great idea! Let's tell Negi-sensei and Thane-sensei that we like them and maybe, for a little while anyway, they'll be our Boyfriends!"

Fumika clapped her hands together at the thought

"That sounds Like a great idea! The World Tree would defiantly make that happen!"

Both Negi and Thane quickly turned their heads to the two girls,

"say what?/Come again!?"

Negi attempted to get away, But Fuka quickly latched onto his right Arm, while Thane, despite the fact that he didn't try to run, got Fumika latched onto his left Arm.

Negi started to flail his one loose arm in panic, "No! Total opposite of Good idea! A teacher must never take advantage of his students! So not even in Jest should you-!"

He quickly shut up When Fuka pulled him closer. Fumika, on the other hand, was a little surprised By Thane's lack of panic and looked up at him and found him smiling down at her. She was quickly distracted when Negi started to actually yell out in a panicked tone,

"Ah come on! What if that stupid Legend comes true!?"

"All together now!"

Before Negi could even react, he felt the pressing of a set of lips on his right cheek, and he had to admit, they felt pretty nice.

Fumika, on the other hand, was surprised when Thane had bent down and gave **her** a Kiss on her forehead.

She blushed deeply and looked back up to see Thane wagging his finger at her while smiling

"Tut, tut. You're a few years too young to be trying that legend with me, but… come back in two years, and I might consider it alright?"

The Young girl only steepled her fingers in response while lightly nodding her head. Thane put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it fondly, as if to get her to relax a little more.

After a few more Minutes of horsing around On Fuka's part, the group eventually decided to leave. When they got to the base of the tree, Negi went ahead and left first, his cheeks still red from the earlier kiss.

That left only Thane and the two twins at the base of the tree. Thane stretched his arms out wide, letting his muscles tense for a few seconds before he let them fall to his side,

"well… I guess you two need to head on back pretty soon then huh?"

Fuka glanced over at him, her face twisted into a quizzical look, "You make it sound like you're not coming along Sensei"

"Well, I'm not. I actually have somewhere I need to be here in a few minutes, would you two mind relaying a message to Yuna and Akira for me?"

Fumika was all too eager to agree and nodded her head quickly,

"s-Sure, what is it?"

Thane thought about it for a minute before he nodded his head at his internal answer,

"Tell them that I'm going to be late for dinner, so don't bother making me anything too eat"

"Huh… alright, but where are you going?"

"To visit a friend"

Both Twins nodded their heads in unison, "Alright, we'll make sure they get it"

Thane waved his hand at the both of them and smiled as they left,

"K, Thanks! Have a safe trip back home you two!"

When they were finally out of sight, Thane stopped waving and reached into his pocket

"Well… this is just as good a spot as any…"

Thane glanced around a few time's, trying to find something in particular for this situation until he eventually found it, "Ah… that should do nicely…"

He walked a little off the path, reaching down and picking up a moderate sized stick that he flipped over in his hands a few times,

"Should work…"

Thane then came back and started to walk around the tree until he found a good clear view of the Campus. He then impaled the stick into the Ground, twisting at around a few times to make sure it stayed in tight.

After doing that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the Eye of Havrad, placing it in the little broken end of the stick that was conveniently shaped for small marble like objects. After doing that, Thane stepped back and observed his handiwork for a moment before he nodded his head,

"Alright… let's get that data then…"

He then stepped forward and placed his hand on the Small gem, holding his free hand in front of him and facing the entirety of the Campus

"_The eye of the Deceiver will not be blinded"_

The same blinding green light that flashed In Eva's cottage several nights ago was just as bright now as it was then. Suddenly, the many colors that painted the Campus Landscape was dotted in hundreds of thousands of White glowing sigils.

Thane smiled to Himself and pulled out a pen and Paper, "Alright then… let's see what's worth looking at…"

**Xx about an Hour Later, Eva's cottage xX**

Evangeline A.K McDowell, The Magi Nosferatu, terror of the Magical world, was currently sitting in the middle of her cabin floor, her fingers tapping impatiently on the Hard wood with an almost rhythm Like Pattern.

Her Patience was obviously starting to wear thin,

"Where in the hell is he!?"

Chachamaru, who didn't share any of her master's emotion as of right now, simply went about her business of making tea.

"That Crazy Punk said he would be here over an hour ago! He sure has balls for keeping me waiting!"

Chachamaru, finished with her preparation of Tea making, took the completed beverage to her heated mistress and put the Tray outside the Semi-crimson circle she was sitting in.

Evangeline quickly took one of the cups and sipped at the hot tea experimentally, testing the limits of the heat on her tongue the first few sips.

"Master, Should I perhaps go out and try to find him? That would alleviate your anger by some small degree and speed up the process of your release"

Eva looked at the cabin door, the steaming cup of tea stationary in her hand and her lip's pinched in both anger and excitement

"No; we will wait a few more minutes. But if he hasn't shown up by then, then you are free to go and find his sorry hide and drag it back here"

The Gynoid simply bowed her head in understanding and stayed next to her master, the seconds ticking by in an almost agonizingly slow pace for the Pseudo-Vampire.

Thankfully for Thane, He did indeed manage to make his way to the cabin in the next fifteen minutes and entered the residence with a large stack of papers under his left arm,

"Hello?"

Eva jumped to her feet at the sound of his voice,

"About time you got here! What kept you so long?!"

Thane shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry, I got lost in the road of life…"

Eva cocked her eyebrow in annoyance,

"You just got lost didn't you?"

Thane raised his right hand and smiled at her, "Right! On the road of life!"

The Vampire decided not to pursue the issue and sat back down,

"So? Are we ready to go yet?"

Thane went to an open spot on the Table and placed all his paperwork there before he responded to her, "You have the circle in place?"

He turned around and saw her pointing to the ground she was sitting on. Thane smiled at her impatience, "Good work! I'll get started here in a second, but first let me go over a few of my findings. I want to get this right the first time around"

Despite her obvious excitement of the prospect of being released, Eva couldn't help but wonder a little about some of his findings.

"So what did you find out?"

Thane had sat down at the table and started sorting through his papers, placing some in piles that Eva really didn't want to bother with.

"well… for starts, I found that the heaviest concentration for the seal is around here and the cabin, no duh there since you're in here. Also, the seal seems to be of a semi-Spirit natured one, however, the other element being used is something I couldn't identify"

"Is that going to be a problem?"

Thane shook his head as he continued his work, "No, not with me on it. The seal is still magical in nature, so that means that at its base and core I can still deal with it. It just might take me a little longer, that's all"

Thane looked up at the ceiling for a second before he glanced back at her, "I did notice one odd thing though, it kinda confused me. Maybe since you're a resident of this world you could offer a little insight?"

Eva tilted her head in a quizzical manner.

"What is it?"

Thane began to scratch his head, "well, I said that a lot of the seals concentration is on you correct? One thing I noticed is that it seemed to worm its way around a lot of the Campus in lines, underground, in buildings, even outside, they all seemed to follow a linier pattern. Happen to have any insight for that?"

Eva thought about it for a second but shook her head after she thought it over.

"No, afraid not"

Thane shrugged his shoulders, as if to brush off some slight annoyance,

"Oh well, it won't be much of a problem anyway… alright… another few minutes if you please and we'll be ready to go"

And so, for the next twenty or so odd minutes, it was simply the sound of sifting paper, tapping fingers, and the occasional humming of the AC Unit outside.

Eva, not one to be bored for long periods of time, despite it going against her nature, decided to break the silence

"Hey"

Thane slightly Jolted from the sudden voice in the room, but recovered and turned his attention to the Vampire

"Yes?"

"Why do you want to help me so badly?"

Thane blinked his eyes a few time, he wasn't shocked nor hurt by her sudden question

"Why?... I guess… it may be because…I'm just too nice of a guy not too"

Eva Lifted her eyebrow in confusion,

"There has to be more to it than that. Nobody does anything for free unless they hope to get something out of it. In my 800+ years of living, that's one thing that I have never seen change"

However, to her shock, she saw that he was smiling,

"He he he he… I guess that is one true thing in this world, nobody does anything for free. And if you put it that way, I guess I really do have a reason for wanting to help you"

Eva didn't say anything, but the look on her face said she was curious. Thane scratched his chin for a moment before he decided to answer,

"I guess it really comes down to the fact… That I'm hoping you might fall in love with me afterward"

Total. Silence.

It took Eva's brain a full thirty seconds to process what the hell he just said, and when it did, the 800 year old vampire went red in the face,

"What'd you say!-?-!"

Thane was doubled over his chair, laughing till his gut started to hurt

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!-!-!-! I totally got you with that!-!-! You should've seen the look on your face!-!-!"

Eva was both shaking in anger and embarrassment

"You asshole! Just you wait till this gets done! I'm gonna rip your head off!"

Thane turned back around to his papers and chuckled to himself.

"Soooooooooooooo worth it"

Eva was gritting her teeth in frustration, but suddenly felt that she may have just been played.

"Wait a second… Oh no you don't! You won't distract me! Now what's the real reason for trying to help me?"

"Tsk… You're sharp… but what else can I expect from one as powerful as you?"

Eva crossed her legs, her temper starting to get into the same position,

"Flattery won't get you out of this"

Thane finally sighed, knowing that he was defeated.

"Alright then… The real reason is because I can sympathize with you on this"

Eva blinked, once, twice, then the third time before she shook her head,

"Say what? You can **sympathize** with me? I don't know how you even think that, please, do tell. I'm **highly** curious!"

Thane noticed the agitation growing in her voice, and turned around to face her, "Well… I guess you can say I know what it's like to be cut off from your powers. Totally and completely cut off for that fact"

"Really? How so?"

Thane glanced at the circle on the floor and then down to his feet, "So we gonna start sharing stories about each other then? Huh… I guess… That it would probably be better to save this discussion for another time. You want to be released as quickly as possible correct? Sharing stories about my past won't speed that up you know"

Eva slightly gritted her teeth.

Everything he said was true, what use was his past compared to the seal put on her at the moment?

'_I can just get it out of him later…'_

"Alright, Fine. Go ahead and get started then _Sensei_"

Thane ignored the slight jib in the Honorific and stood up, coming pretty close to The circle that Eva was currently sitting in.

"Alright then, Evangeline, do whatever you want, but you must, I repeat, **Must** stay in the circle at all times else we will need to start all over, and that takes time"

Eva simply jerked her head in answer.

"Chachamaru… um… I guess you can do whatever you want, unless you know highly advanced Magical Streaming techniques?"

The Gynoid Shook her head, "I am afraid Not Sensei"

The male shrugged his shoulders, as if it really wasn't much of a concern,

"Oh well. Let's get started then…"

Thane closed his eyes and raised his hands, almost like a pianist ready to play his Piano.

Eva noticed the almost shocking change come over him and actually felt impressed. He had done things like this before, and she could feel it.

Thane took one deep breath, and then another. He then opened his eyes and started to speak in a low voice

{_"Spiritus Magia: Codex remissionis gradu 1"}_ (Spirit magic: The code of release level 1)

A small screen appeared before Thane. He put his hand around the round screen and slightly pushed forward, making the screen grow in size about three times, large enough to be considered a medium sized television screen, and then, he got to work.

Small ruins started to form on the screen and each time they did, Thane's hands where there. He would move them around, slightly alter them, throw them of the screen with a flick of his wrist, summon new ones, all this and more.

At first, it was a pretty slow pace, but as the minutes ticked on, Thane's hands would pick up speed and simply proceeded to increase. After 20 minutes, his hands where a blur at this point, moving this way and that, almost to the point where Eva was having a hard time keeping up with all the hand motions.

Chachamaru on the other hand, had no such trouble.

This continued for another 15 or so minutes before Thane suddenly stopped,

"ouch… I haven't done this in a while… but the show must go on! _Spiritus Magia: Codex remissionis gradu 2!"_ (Spirit Magic: The code of release level 2)

Even more ruins started to appear on the screen, but the Screen also started to shift, instead of being a flat screen in the air, it suddenly took on a box like shape, and Thane began anew, only this time, starting with the same speed he was going at.

Eva was pretty impressed at this point, "I must say, you're pretty good at this"

Thane flashed her a small smile, "Thanks, but we aren't even halfway there yet, I'm just now getting into the Magical functions of the Seal… Oh, and by the way, if you want to say something to me, say it before I get to level 4 alright? Cause at that point, I'm not going to be able to answer any questions. My full attention needs to be on this at that point"

Eva cocked her eyebrow at the number, "4? How many levels will you need to go through before you get done?"

Thane stopped for a second and switched the sides, beginning his work on another surface of the block.

"8 level's for something like this, this might take a while too, so I hope you have something to do in the next few hours… oops, fixing to start level three here"

And with that, he enacted the code for level three seal magic.

Eva simply stared on at his speed, finding the pace and the rhythm to almost be hypnotic,

"So… I guess the next one you won't be able to answer my questions then… fine, answer me this then"

Thane turned his attention to her, "What is it?"

Eva was silent for a second, as if rolling the thought of asking the question around in her mind, she finally seemed to come to a decision and rested her head on the palm of her head,

"I wonder… why do you help me? Has it never crossed your mind as to why I was sealed? You seem decently smart; surely you have to have figured it out by now. But, maybe you haven't, maybe you're just that Kind hearted. But why, why would you release an Evil Mage who is a powerful Vampire to boot?"

Eva was a little shocked to see that he didn't even slow down, didn't flinch, or even stop to ponder for a second. Thane looked over at her and smiled,

"hum… Why I wonder… maybe it's because of the same reason I mentioned before? I sympathize with you; I know what it's like to be sealed, to be stripped of your power, to be removed from a very core essence of yourself. It's like somebody ripped your heart out and keeps it out of range, you can still feel the effects of the beat, but it's just not there. It a hallowing feeling… and you've suffered through it for fifteen years."

Eva kept her face straight, but was a little surprised to hear something like that.

"Huh… I guess that can explain a little of your actions, but why help an Evil mage at all? What if I deserved it?"

At that, Thane did stop for a second, but started back up again

"… I don't know you that well, hell, you and I can only be considered little more than Acquaintances at this point but… The Eva I see isn't an Evil person in my eyes"

"What if it's an act? What if when you release me, I start to rampage?"

Thane shrugged his shoulders and went back to work, feeling the approach of the level 4 coming on,

"Then… I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it then, it would be my responsibility to stop you otherwise. But I would hope you wouldn't do that, I'm going to try putting my faith in you"

Eva was pretty shocked at this point.

'_this guy… is he just that careless? No… he seems more carefree then anything'_

"Hope that answered your questions miss Evil Mage, because I'm starting level 4 now, and from here on out, it's gonna take much longer compared to before…"

Evangeline shook her head to indicate that she was done talking and simply watched him continue in silence.

After 40 minutes, Thane Upgraded to level 5, after another hour, he hit level 6, and at this point, his arms where getting tired and sweat was starting to form on his brow.

Chachamaru, oddly enough, decided to wipe the sweat off his face as he worked, knowing that he needed to try to concentrate at this point.

After an hour and 26 minutes he finally hit level 7, and the speed he was going at had not diminished at all, but the screen changed at this point. It was no longer a square, it had taken a sphere shape now, and Thane's hand motions now included spinning it around a great deal.

Finally, after 2 more hours, it was 11:37 at night.

Eva had remained vigilant the whole Time, watching as Thane worked these last five hours for her sake.

Thane had a huge grin on his face,

"he he he… I haven't had such a challenge in such a long time… but you're dealing with the head of the Magical research division In the Estorian Military! This won't beat me! _Spiritus Magia: Codex remissionis gradu 8!"_

Suddenly, a huge flash of light erupted from the circle Around Eva, causing her to jump

"Woah!-!"

Thane was starting to chuckle like a small child right about now

"This was tough, But my experience with seals leaves all others in the dust! Get ready Oh Queen of the Night! Your powers are about to be restored in **FULL! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" **

Eva felt a little sweat drop form on her temple, "I'm starting to think that you might have gone crazy from watching too many flashing lights…"

Thane decided to ignore that comment and continued with his work. The sphere that he had been working with at this point started to glow brighter and brighter until it was almost as bright as a small sun, or close enough to one.

"And Now!"

Thane stopped moving his hands and placed them under the glowing sphere. The sphere stopped glowing and reveled thousands of small ruins that where no bigger than the head of a tack. Thane put one hand under the sphere and the other on top, causing the globe of ruins to shrink down to the size of a baseball. Thane, having been standing for several hours, grabbed the small globe and fell to his knees,

"Ha! Finally! Now… just one more thing to do…"

He held the sphere in one hand and held it up, starting to squeeze it until the sound of cracking was heard

"And now… we go BREAK!"

***SNAP***

The small sphere shattered in his hands, the pieces falling to the floor and disintegrating the moment they touched the hard wood.

The circle that Eva was sitting in suddenly flared up in bright blue light, but only for a second before the circle itself seemed to dissolve.

Eva blinked in surprise a few times and looked over to Thane, who was still on his knees,

"Did… Did it work?"

Thane simply held his hand up with three digits held out, a smile on his face.

"3…2…1"

On one, Eva suddenly felt something she hadn't in over 15 years.

The thrilling rush of her full magical powers.

Thane smiled smugly, "Now **you** tell **me** if it didn't work"

Eva wasn't paying attention; she was too shocked at the sudden return of her powers to say anything.

Thane lay back against the couch, giving his tired arms a breather from all that rapid motion,

"So, how does it feel? To be returned to full power?"

She didn't answer at first, not with words anyway. No, she started to giggle,

"He he he… ha ha ha… Ha Ha…HA HA HA….**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!-!-!-! It feels goddamned marvelous!-!-!-!"**

She flung her hand back, and frost instantly coated everything behind her. Eva brought her hand to her face and flexed her fingers, feeling power course through every digit,

"So long… 15 Motherphucking years and I am FREE!-!-! Who's laughing now Nagi!-? Who's laughing now!-!"

She started to laugh a great deal, doubling over in her laughter.

Thane simply smiled and sighed contently, "Glad to see I did my job well then…"

Eva finally managed to regain control of her emotions and glanced over at him, a smile on her face.

"Yes… you did do well… and for that, I thank you"

Thane blinked in surprise, "wait, what you just say?"

Eva rolled her eyes, "I hate repeating myself, you know what I said, I won't say it again."

Thane curled his lip up at her in annoyance, "Like it would kill ya… But… your welcome"

For a brief moment, Evangeline smiled, not a sneer, not a mocking Grin, she genuinely smiled at him.

However, in the next moment, all the lights in the cabin dimmed and eventually went out, causing everybody in the room to look around.

Thane was the first to say something,

"What the? Did we have a power outage or something? Maybe even electricity is afraid of your return eh?"

Chachamaru eyes suddenly lit up with small streams of code crossing her irises,

"No… not a power outage…"

Eva turned to her robotic servant and stamped her foot,

"Then what is it Cha-"

In the next instant, what could only be described as a massive bolt of lightning ripped right through the solid wood ceiling of her cabin and right through her second floor and struck Evangeline where she stood.

"**A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H!" **

Thane threw his arms up to cover his eyes from the massive flash while Chachamaru's Optical lenses cracked from the sudden burst of energy.

However, unlike a real bolt of lightning, this one didn't vanish the moment it struck; instead, it just got stronger, shocking the vampire with untold amounts of electricity.

Eva doubled over in pain, not even screaming anymore it hurt that bad.

Thane's eyes managed to adjust enough for him to see what was going on, and the sight sent terror down his spine.

"EVA!"

Thane tried to jump into the electrical field, but was sent flying back across the room the moment he touched it and slammed into the wall.

Not letting the pain get to him, Thane jumped to his feet and leaned against the couch for support.

He was about to jump into it again when he suddenly noticed something happening around the energy field.

"Wha… no… No way!-!"

The energy that was surging through Evangeline started to turn into ruins and disappeared the moment the energy left her body.

Thane could only watch, sudden understanding coming on him,

"It's… the seal is fixing itself!-! How?-!"

However, the sight of someone being run through with a bolt of energy dislodged that thought quickly,

"I can't worry about that right now! I gotta see if I can help Eva!"

However, the moment he tried to step forward, the electricity stopped and dissipated, leaving her standing there with smoke rising off of her body.

"Eva!"

Thane dashed forward and caught her as she was about to fall.

Thane gently lowered her to the ground and put his hand on her chest

'_shit… please be ok…'_

It was slow, and somewhat erratic, but Thane felt a heartbeat.

He let himself breathe out a sigh of relief,

"Thank goodness… I was afraid whatever that was killed you!"

The slight coughing fit she gave him told him that she was otherwise not a cadaver,

"Well… whatever it was… it damned near did… my body hurts all over… and get your hand off me"

Thane looked down, not really sure why she was angry at him, until he saw the condition of her body.

Apparently the bolt of energy had done more than reset the seal, it apparently blew all her clothes off too, meaning his hand was on her bare chest.

"WAGH!-!-!"

Thane threw his hand into the air in embarrassment,

"Sorry! Just checking to see if your heart was working!"

Eva let an evil smirk cross her face,

"Oh? Sure about that? Looked more like you where trying to feel me up you Lolicon"

"I wasn't trying to!-!"

Thane took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves down and remembered that there was another in the room who was even closer to Eva then he was.

"Chachamaru! Are you alright? Where are you?"

The robot raised her hand from behind the kitchen counter,

"I am Fine Sensei, though I am momentarily blinded. If you would, could you please call Hakase? The number is next to the phone"

Thane nodded his head and found the phone under a large pile of stuffed toys and called the Professor up.

After taking care of that, he went back and kneeled next to Eva, draping a blanket he found over her body,

"How are you feeling Eva?"

The Vampire looked up at him with annoyance very apparent on her face, "Just fine and dandy despite the fact that I just got **shot** by God-Lightning. Just what the hell was that anyway? My Body can't move and it hurts all over…"

Thane looked away from here with some shame on his face,

"Sorry… I was careless… it was that unknown Factor that I disregarded earlier… Thanks to that, you wound up like this… Let me see if I can help a little bit with the pain…"

Thane placed his hands on her stomach, much to the vampires embarrassment, "wh-what are you doing?"

Thane ignored her and took a few deep breathes, {"_Ignis Magia: Lenia Flamma"}_ (Fire magic: Light Flame)

A reddish aura started to form around Thanes hands and slowly seeped down onto Eva's skin.

The Vampire instantly noticed a soothing effect and began to relax, the pain dying down,

"Oh… that feels pretty nice… What kind of magic is this?"

Thane kept it up for a few more seconds before he removed his hands, looking visibly drained,

"It's a healing spell from the Fire Branch of magic. Most fire spells Are Pure attack types so it has very few healing or support skills. But that's what makes them so cheap to use, they really don't heal very large amounts of damage. That kind of healing is reserved for the Water and Spirit Branches; else I would have used one of those to fix you up. Unfortunately for me, using a level 8 sealing spell pretty much drained me of everything I currently had… sorry"

Though she could still feel some pain in her body, Eva decided that she had suffered worse and sat up, using the blanket to cover herself,

"That's pretty useful… You didn't even have to Chant to use it either… But, I want to know what happened with the unsealing of my power. I felt my power's come back to me, so it wasn't a failure, but when that Bolt hit me, it got sealed back up again, what gives?"

Thane got into a more comfortable position and sat cross legged in front of her, a heavy sigh slipping from his lips

"I must apologize, like I said. Where I thought the seal was Magical in nature, it really came from something else. From what, I don't know, but the moment I released the Magical portion of the seal, the other half kicked in and ripped all that hard work to pieces, just like your roof"

Eva looked up and saw a gapping charred hole in her ceiling, however, that was the last thing she was worried about right now,

"Well… can you still do something about it? The seal simply reset itself, maybe if you look harder you can undo both halves"

Thane started to grit his teeth, "There's the problem… I just took a look and whoever did this seal must have been a damn genius"

Eva couldn't help herself with that one and just started laughing, "***Pfffffft!-!* ** AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!-!-! That's a joke!-!"

Thane cocked his eyebrow upward in confusion, "Um… pardon?"

Eva waved her hand while getting her laughter under control.

"Nothing… ke he he he… continue"

Thane looked at her for a few more seconds before he simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Ok then… as I was saying, Whoever this guy is, he managed to hide two little surprises in that seal, the first was the auto-repair feature, that takes a lot of work to hide. But the second little surprise this person hid is one nasty little bitch… By the looks of it, the seal changes it's very magical makeup every few minutes…"

Eva didn't like the sounds of that, "so… what does that mean?"

Thane held his head in his hands in shame,

"It means I dun goofed… I can't work with the seal anymore. It took me five damn hours to work with it when it was just one seal, now that it's changing itself around, it doesn't matter how fast I go. It just changes itself around every few minutes… I'm sorry, I should have been better prepared…"

Eva looked down at her feet, her expression unreadable to Thane, but her inner turmoil raging inside her body.

'_So close… I was so damned close… damn it Nagi… damn it all!' _

Eva smashed her hand into the hardwood floor, and then again, and again, and again until her hand started to bleed from the constant pounding. After another minute of venting her frustration Eva Finally felt herself calm down enough to be rational and she turned her attention back to Thane,

"So… now what? We just give up? You're the seal genius; you tell me what to do"

Thane bit his lower lip in thought, working his brain into overdrive.

'_there has to be a way to get it off… It doesn't matter how complex it starts to get, the caster has to have a backup in case it changes on him or something goes wrong… this seal should be no different… however, the magical make-up of this seal differs greatly from the ones in Estoria… I'm gonna need to study it much much more…'_

Thane looked back at her and shook his head,

"Not give up, I have never failed to remove a seal and this one won't be any different, I'm just going to need a little more time to study up on it. Try to figure out what the second element used is. The moment I get that, this damned thing is going down"

Thane punched his fists together with a renewed vigor in his eyes.

Eva tilted her head to the side, a small smile gracing her face, "My my… You know, I'm starting to think you like me"

"***PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT* say what!-?-!**"

Thane actually had to triple check what she just said to make sure he didn't blow his hearing out in the blast.

Eva smirked at him, an evil glint appearing in her eyes,

"I'm almost 95% certain that you do. I mean, why else would you go through this much trouble to help me with this seal? Either you're a supreme masochist, or you have the hot's for an 800 year old Loli"

Thane was incredibly red right now, his mouth moving, but gibberish spilling out

"I!-!-That!-!- You!-!-Not!-!- Shut up! Youdon'tknowwhatyou'retalkingabout!-!"

Eva was now going into full on evil mode,

"Oh but I think I do. I remember you saying that you would like it if I fell in love with you. Now why would you say that if you didn't have a little something on the inside for little old me?"

Thane was much like Negi right now, blubbering about with no excuse to go with,

"I!-I!-I! s-s-s- STUPID EVA!-!-! I-I-I don't like you or anything!"

Thane quickly stood up and ran out the door screaming,

"**BAKA EVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!-!-!"**

Evangeline was just laughing her head off at this point despite the pain she felt in her chest from doing so,

"HA HA HA HA HA!-!-! That was hilarious!-! I haven't laughed that well in a long time!"

Eva was still chuckling to herself before she noticed her robotic servant coming close to her, her visual sensors cracked and almost shattered

"… Funny, does the master not like Thane-sensei?"

Now it was Eva's turn to do a spit take,

"***PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT* what did you just say!-?-!**"

Chachamaru sat down next to her mistress, her expression ever stoic,

"I thought the master Liked Thane. You would always ask if he was coming over soon to tell you another interesting story and I do believe that you looked at the teacher board to find his number as well. Am I mistaken?"

"SHUT UP YA STUPID ROBOT!-!-! You're dead wrong!-! That's cause he had the key to releasing my seal!-! That's the only reason!-! Ya hear me!-?"

Chachamaru tilted her head in a semblance of what appeared to be confusion

"I thought you said you wanted to play a game with him after you where unsealed? Am I also wrong on that as well?"

Eva, now on the breaking point, grabbed the closest thing she could find and tossed it at her Robot Partner, thankfully it was a cat doll,

"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU UUPPP!-!-!"

**Xx Meanwhile, back to Thane xX**

Thane was sitting on one of the park benches, trying to recover his breath and his mind.

"S-Stupid vampire!-! I don't like her!-! No way! I deny it!-! She's a friend! Hell not even that!-! She's just somebody I wanted to help out!-! She needed my help! Her soul was crying out to me in pitiful anguish!-!-! That was it!-!"

'_Good! That sounds like a good excuse! Maybe if I keep telling myself that, I'll believe it!'_

Thane sat there for a few more minutes, trying to get his raging emotions under control again. When he finally did, he let out a huge sigh, feeling some peace come back to his mind.

"Alright… now that _that's_ been taken care of… where the heck am I?"

Thane glanced from one side, and then to the other. The Darkness of the night shadowing any familiar places or landmarks that he could see or use to discern his location. Thane looked around for a little bit longer before he started to scratch his head,

"huh… for that fact… what time is it anyway?"

Thane reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell doing a double take when he saw the digital numbers

"Holy-! 11:49 P.M?! I stayed out way later then I wanted to!"

Thane quickly hopped to his feet and took off running down the road,

"I'll figure out where I am in a few minu- AAAHHH!"

However, not but 20 feet away, he suddenly tripped and ended up falling flat on his face. He stayed like that for a few moments, as if he wasn't sure what the heck just happened

"… Owwwwwwwwwwwwww…. What the hell!?"

The youth quickly bolted upward and looked around for the offending item. Thane looked around for a little bit longer before he finally looked down, and what he saw there took him about 20 seconds to process.

What he had apparently tripped on was an Arm, a young healthy looking arm that was apparently wearing black with a white cuff underneath that was sticking out from the bushes that lined the sidewalk.

"… WAAAAHHHHH!"

Thane leaped back in surprise,

"Wh-wh-wh-wh- What the heck!?"

'_Oh my sweet frikken god! Did I just walk on a murder scene?!' _

"Ow…"

While Thane was busy freaking out, the Hand decided to move and maybe make a sound like it had been stepped on.

Thane leaped back even further when he saw the hand moving,

"Z-Z-Z-Z-ZOMBIE!"

Suddenly, the bushes rustled and somebody quickly jumped from behind the bush

"where!?"

Thane stopped freaking out for a moment when he saw the new face.

Unlike what he was expecting, which was a decayed and rotting corpse that moved with the speed of a turtle in molasses, there stood a Tall young man that had to at the very least 6 feet tall with a semi-hidden face that was obscured by long brown locks of hair and a light blue stocking cap with the character for 'Shinobi' on the side.

The Brown haired man slowly turned his head from the right, and then to the left, his hidden eyes carefully examining the area for threats or dangers.

He Then laid his eyes on Thane and cocked his head to the side in a curious manner,

"…are you alright?"

Thane blinked his eyes a few time, "Um… yeah"

The tall youth suddenly let out a sigh of relief, "Good… not sure how I would fare against the undead…"

The Stocking cap fellow nodded his head a few times to himself, as if confirming something.

Thane simply stared at him for a few seconds longer before he decided to speak up, "Um… Sorry about that, I was the one who shouted Zombie. I don't think there are any around here"

The strange man turned his head back to him and tilted his head,

"Oh… I see… no problem then…"

The both of them sat there and stared at each other for a little while, or, at least Thane _thought_ the other guy was looking at him, he couldn't tell with all of his hair in the way.

The other guy on the other hand, clenched his right hand a few times and then looked down at it

"ow…"

Thane slightly jolted from the other guy's sudden noise, but quickly regained his composure

"Um… sorry. I must have accidently stepped on your hand when I came running this way. Here, let me check and see if I broke something"

Thane walked over to the big guy and held his hand out for the other guy.

The Shinobi guy looked down at Thane's hand for a second before he placed his own injured hand in it.

Thane examined it closely for a few minutes to check and see if he damaged anything,

'_doesn't look like I broke anything… might bruise a little however… Damn! This guy has huge hands! Could probably grip a whole basketball with just one of them!'_

After a few more seconds of observation, Thane let go of the guys hand and nodded his head

"Your fine, it might be sore for a little while. But I do want to apologize for stepping on your hand. Here… let me give this to you in apology"

Thane reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box of Pocky,

"sorry if you don't like sweets, a friend of mine gave them to me, but I'm not really into that stuff myself. If you don't want that, I can do something else for ya"

However, the big guy took the box and examined it for a second before a small smile appeared on his thin mouth.

"Juno"

"Huh?"

The Big guy bowed a little,

"My name is Juno. Friend or stranger?"

Thane was now starting to get confused by the seemingly random question,

"Um... Friend I think…"

Juno's smile widened and he held out his hand to Thane,

"Thank you my friend"

Thane glanced down and shrugged his shoulders

'_ok… seems like an oddball… but he's nice enough' _

Thane held out his hand and shook Juno's outstretched limb, "The Name is Thane. Thane Mastizetai. Nice to meet you Juno-san"

Juno nodded his head, moving some of his hair out of the way and revealing his eyes, Thane was a little surprised to see such fierce looking eyes on such a fellow. They looked almost Feral with their Heavy green color and slant.

Thane shook his head to get it out of his mind,

'_eh… don't worry about it'_

"well… I hate to greet and run, but I have to get back to my room else my roommates are gonna kill me"

Thane was about to run off, but noticed that Juno had not let his hand go just yet.

Thane tried pulling his hand out of the grip, but was surprised to see that the guy was holding him fast.

Juno slightly tilted his head and used his free hand to scratch the back of his head,

"Um… sorry… can I ask for your help?"

Thane stopped trying to pull his hand out of the iron grip and looked up at the fellow

"Um… what for?"

Juno finally let go of Thane's hand and reached into one of the pockets on his open blazer, but scrunched his brow in thought and reached into his Jean pocket next.

"Ah… here we are"

Juno then pulled out a small and crumpled piece of paper that had a rough if not somewhat decent picture of a Dog on it,

"Have you seen this dog? He goes by the name of Aina"

Thane scratched his chin in thought for a second,

"ah… alright, so he goes by the name Aina… wait a second… That's a girl's name! Why did you call your male dog by a girl's name!?"

"It was easy to remember" he deadpanned.

Thane did a face palm, feeling that was the only thing he could do in this situation,

"Whatever… Unfortunately, I haven't seen that dog before. Sorry. Wait… is that why you're out here at this time of night?"

Juno put the picture back in his pocket as he nodded his head, "Yup… I gotta find Aina. Thanks for the info, and sorry for holding you up"

Juno turned around and started walking away before Thane held his hand up,

"Hold up hold up…"

The tall youth turned his head around to look at Thane with a puzzled look.

Thane rotated his shoulders around a few times and walked up next to him,

"It might take you a while if you do it by yourself, two heads are better than one they say, so I'm pretty sure two voices will be even better"

Juno nodded his head in understanding and gratitude,

"Thank you Thane-san. He went missing around here earlier, so he should still be pretty close."

Thane nodded his head to show that he got it,

"Alright then, let's get looking, I'll look over there-"

Thane pointed a little ways down the road

"- while you look where ever it is you where looking"

Juno nodded his head without a word and went to his task.

Thane also went about his task with a smile,

"well… Guess I'm gonna be late anyway… I'll text Akira later about what the holdup was…"

Thane and Juno spread out in their search of the lost dog, and for about an hour, that's where all their concentration was focused.

"Aina! ***tweet!*** come here boy! I happen to have a tasty treat for you!"

Thane was moving through the bushes, cupping his hand over his mouth for longer range.

"Aina… come here boy… Aina…"

Thane glanced back over his shoulder at Juno with some annoyance,

"Dude, you gotta be louder else he won't hear your voice."

Juno looked back at Thane with some mild confusion on his face,

"I thought dogs could hear really far away, that's why I wasn't yelling… that and I was afraid I would hurt his ears if I did…"

Thane felt a little drop of sweat fall down his temple,

"uh-hu… well, disregard that for the time being and try to be a little louder. Oh, and you might want to go over there for looking cause being next to me won't increase the search range"

Juno nodded his head and went off in some random direction.

However, in the last hour, Thane had come to realize something about Juno.

He had no sense of direction.

Every time Juno would go off in one direction, he would pop up from the other side that he came from, not really all that worried that he seemed to be going in circles. After about the eighth time of this happening, Thane had reached that conclusion.

The pale youth shrugged his shoulders with disinterest,

"Whatever… Aina!"

However, after another few minutes of searching, Thane finally had to sit down and rest for a moment. Finding a little clearing in the wooded area, Thane sat there and lay down looking up at the stars.

"Huh… I wonder where that little pup got to… wait… are we looking for a puppy or a full grown dog?"

Thane cocked his eyebrow in thought before he gave up thinking about it. After a few more minutes of resting, the pale assistant teacher was about to get up and leave when he heard something in the bushes off to his right.

"***Whimper*"**

Thane tilted his head to try to get a better view of whatever was making all that noise. Thane finally had to lay on his side to see what was moving around, and much to his surprise, he saw a cute little black and white Shikoku Inu puppy lying flat on its belly, it's front 2 paws over its nose, as if trying to hide from something.

"Well hello there little thing! Are you perhaps Aina?"

At the mention of the name, the little dog's ears slightly perked up and it moved its paws to reveal its frosty blue eyes.

Thane grinned widely at the discovery, "ah-ha! Found you!"

Thane sat back up and cupped his hand over his mouth, "Juno-san! Hey!-! I found him!-!"

hoping that he managed to hear It, Thane turned his attention back to the pup and extended his hand

"Come here little guy… nothing to be afraid of, I'll take care of you"

Aina slowly crawled forward on its belly, avoiding the underbrush until it eventually could stand up and walk on its own.

The Dog then came forward and started to sniff Thanes outstretched hand, slightly wary of this person.

"Good boy! Now we just wait for Juno and-"

***Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrowl***

Thane blinked a few times and stared down at the little pup

"… wow, awfully deep for such a cute thing"

***Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…***

Thane quickly started to look around, some slight panic starting to form in his voice,

"That's not you is it…"

The little pup quickly hopped into Thanes arms and tried to hide in his coat.

Thane, despite the sounds of a whimpering dog, listened very closely to all sounds around him, slightly detecting some aura of a type

"… WOAH!"

Thanks to his military training, Thane quickly rolled to the side and just barely managed to avoid getting his head taken off by a huge shadowy mass that went swinging into the bushes.

After that, Thane jumped to his feet and ran for it with the Pup in his arms.

'_Holy shit! What the Frik was that!? I know one thing; it was trying to kill me!' _

The sound of crashing brush and snapping limbs right behind him made Thane beat his feet even harder until he saw signs of the low lit road. Thane ran out from the forest and took off down the road, but whatever was chasing him, apparently didn't get as much traction when making sharp turns, because he heard it seem to skitter across the pavement in a desperate attempt to keep itself going but crash into a park bench and several trash cans.

Thane quickly turned his head around to see what was chasing him, and instantly regretted doing so.

"HOLY-! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?"

What was now starting to pick itself back up, was some insect like creature with hard black chitinous platting going over every part of its insect like body. It looked like a hash combination of a praying mantis combined with a centipede with a bit of a Jaw's like mouth thrown in just for the hell of it.

Thane quickly turned his attention back to his front, determined not to get caught by something like that,

'_what in the name of all that is holy is that thing!?It looks hideous for starters, but now that I think about it… didn't Setsuna say something along the lines of that sometimes lower level Monsters and demons would get into the campus? Now I see what she hunts…but that thing sure doesn't look low level… and I am going to die if I don't find a way out of this mess!'_

The sound of heavy clacking on concrete forced Thane to turn his head behind him just in time to dodge roll out of the way of a two ton Monster hell bent on squashing him like a bug, no Pun intended.

Thane jumped right back on his feet, but had to dodge to his side when the thing took a swipe at him with its scythe like appendage,

"WOAH! Hey can't we talk about this!?"

No dice, the creature took another swipe at him, which he avoided again.

Thane looked around him, but found himself cut off from the back, the creature's long centipede-like body having made a near perfect circle to keep him caged. The only way out would have been forward, but the things claws where seeing to that little escape plan.

'_Can't use magic… would try chi, but I have a dog in my arms and I never was one who had good marks with it… I am so screwed…'_

Thane saw another one of its claws coming at him from the right, the razor like edge aimed for his lower body. Thane ducked low, but failed to notice the back of the second claw in the shadow of the first and felt the contact with his lower leg.

***KE-RACK!***

"AGH!-!-!"

Thane fell on his back, one of his legs broken and the other swept out from under him. The Monster took that as an advantage and struck one of its claws deep into his shoulder blade, piercing right through the bone

"**GAH!-!-!**"

Thane could only scream out and hold onto the pup for dear life

'_gotta… gotta get help or… or something! Setsuna?! Eva! Negi!' _

Thane scrunched his eyes closed, his doom flashing before his eyes in several rows of razor sharp teeth.

"_Juno-Ninpou: Hachi Oni no hashira suto!" _(Eight Demon Pillar strikes)

Suddenly, eight massive impacts crashed into the abdomen and head of the creature, splitting its chitin and causing purple blood to splatter everywhere and sending the beast flying back.

The removal of the claw as the creature went flying was defiantly less then delicate, but at that point, Thane was just happy to have it out of his body.

Thane, despite his pain, managed to sit up and was pretty surprised to see Juno standing in front of him, holding what appeared to be to be a small black ball.

"J-Juno-san? What are you doing here!?"

The tall youth slightly turned his head and gazed down at him, "You called me, remember? Said you found Aina"

Thane looked down and saw the still trembling pup in his arms,

"Oh yeah… I did… But that's not important right now! We need to get the hell out of here before that Thing gets back up!"

As if to defy the will of fate and the words that came out of Thanes mouth, the large Monster quickly thrashed itself to its feet, most of the armor platting on its upper body cracked and broken to reveal the soft flesh underneath.

"***Click click click* KREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"**

Juno held up the ball in-front of him and quick as a flash, had several small needles in his other hand

"Back off… I won't let you hurt my friends!"

Juno threw the needles, but oddly enough, swiped the ball behind them as they left his hand,

"_Juno-Ninpou: Shi Oni no hashira suto!"_ (Four Demon pillar strikes)

The four needles hit the creature with the force of a ten ton truck and sent the beast flying yet again and crashing into the ground with a very loud crack.

Thane's mouth was literally on the ground,

"Ho-ly crap! What did you just do!?"

Juno slightly scratched the back of his head before he held his hand up with the ball in it, "This, but I can't tell you what it is. Ninja secret"

Thane blinked his eyes a few times.

"Ninja? You're a Ninja?"

Juno suddenly held his hands up defensively,

"Crap… wasn't supposed to tell you that…"

Thane laughed nervously, a small smile on his face,

"Cat's out of the bag now"

However, the sound of the creature getting up yet **again** caused the both of them to turn their attention back to the fight at hand.

Juno nodded his head in admiration, "You're a tough one… nobody has ever made it past 6 of those, but you took 12 of them and can still stand… I'm impressed… very well then"

Juno put the small ball away and pulled out at least a dozen of the small needles from out of nowhere,

"I will acknowledge your strength creature. Hence forth, Juno Nagase, Jounin of the Koga Ninja clan (Self titled) will use his full might to bring you down"

Thane blinked a few times at the familiar sounding name,

"wait…"

'_Juno+ Nagase + Kaede/shares same last name= family!' _

"Are you perhaps related to a Kaede Nagase… one who happens to be around 16 years old, is pretty tall, has long hair and rather squinty eyes?"

Juno turned his head and cocked his head to the side in some mild surprise,

"Oh? Do you know my little sister?"

'_They __**are**__ related!' _

"Uh… I guess you could say that…"

Suddenly, the feeling of somebody grabbing hold of the Collar of his shirt sent Thane into panic mode, but it didn't last long when he had the feeling as if he just got pulled at 130 miles per-hour through the air.

Suddenly, he found himself about 20 feet in the air, held on tight by Juno as he held onto a tree branch while bracing his feet against the trunk.

"Close… almost didn't notice it"

Thane was highly confused until he saw that the Beast had landed right where they had been, cracking the pavement and sending stone chips and dust everywhere.

"Yikes… Pancakes… So how are you going to take care of this thing? Your blows didn't seem to do anything except make it angrier, even after breaking its armor"

Juno tilted his head in thought, the creature getting back up and looking around for them,

"Hum… I guess I could just pummel it into submission…"

However, just as he mentioned that, Juno noticed another presence coming at them.

"… Or just leave it to her"

"her? Who's her?"

However, Thane was talking to empty space. When he turned around, he found that he was sitting on the tree branch, Aina and Juno both having vanished into thin-air

"Uh… Juno-san? Where'd you go!?"

However, Thane was yelling at nothing, and unfortunately, his yelling caught the attention of the large Bug, which was made very apparent when it dashed for him.

"Waugh!" was all Thane could do at this point, since he couldn't get down and doing so would put him in the Jaw's of the thing.

'_But at this rate, it's gonna eat me!'_

The monster crashed into the tree, tipping Thane over precariously,

"whoa whoa whoa!-!-!-!"

After another few seconds of flailing his arms wildly, Thane managed to get himself righted in time, looking down and sighing in relief,

"Phew… Thought you had me, didn't ya sucker!? Ha ha!"

The creature, as if taking insult from his gloating, swiped its scythe like arm across the base of the trunk, cutting clean through it and smashing it with its other claw,

"Eh?"

Thane's momentary joy was quickly dashed when he saw that he was starting to fall with the tree,

"me and my big mouth!"

The creature smashed the side of the falling tree once again to knock Thane from its branches and succeeded.

Thane attempted to flap his arms in hopes that he might fly, but quickly abandoned that idea because it was 1: Stupid and 2: he can't fly like that.

"Guess I'll go with Plan 2!"

Thane started charging Chi into his fist, readying for a huge blow.

The Large bug opened its mouth wide to consume him while Thane threw his left arm back for a punch

"eat this ya ugly sonuvabitch!"

"_Shinmei-Ryu Ougi: Zanganken!"_ (Rock splitting sword)

The creature, who had been not but a second ago whole, was split in half mid-riff, the top half falling to the ground and allowing Thane a soft, if not disgusting, break to his fall in a large and squishy pile of bug guts and blood.

Thane was surprised at first, not quite sure what in the world just happened, but he quickly found that pondering it in purple blood wasn't a fun idea and managed to pull himself out of the sea of Organs and flop to the ground with a wet ***Sploch.***

"First off… ew… second, what in the… know what? I think I'll just say that crazy shit just happened and my day has been just downright weird in general."

"Thane!"

The assistant teacher turned his head in the direction of the very familiar Voice.

"Setsuna?"

True enough, Setsuna was running at him, sheathing her sword and looking at Thane with a look of worry.

Thane, despite the oddity of his situation, smiled at her, but felt some stinging in his upper right shoulder and slumped to the ground in a daze.

'_right… forgot that I was stabbed… Guess I lost some blood… and that purple stuff really stings my wound…' _

"Thane! Are you alright? What happened? Why are you- Oh my god! Your shoulder!"

Setsuna came to a halt right next to him and bent down to examine his wound, however, she unintentionally bumped his right leg, causing him to suck in air with a hiss.

"Ouch! Watch it! That thing also broke my leg to, so if you would be so kind as to not touch it…"

Setsuna was absolutely horrified at this point, "a Broken Leg as well?! I need to get you to a doctor! Here, let me help you up!"

Thane gently pushed her hands aside as she reached for him,

"You're making a big fuss over nothing, settle down why don't ya?"

Setsuna stared down at him, as if she wasn't sure she heard him right, "Nothing? **NOTHING!?** You have a **HOLE **in your shoulder! It's not just _'nothing'_!"

Much to Thane's annoyance, and somewhat of a blow to his manly pride, Setsuna managed to pick him up with almost no effort and slung his one good arm over her shoulder.

"I need to get you to a medic or a doctor!"

Thane simply huffed, but was actually pretty relived about getting some help, However, the samurai had to walk at a pretty slow pace so as not to injure him anymore then he already was. Thankfully, she sent some telepathic messages to get some help and stopped by a bench to set Thane down.

The both of them sat there in silence for a little bit, Setsuna examining the extent of the wound while Thane used his one good arm to try to wipe some of the blood off,

"Well Setsuna, I don't think I had much of an appreciation for your little side job until today. You fight those things every day? Must be tough"

"That's not true, unlike that thing, most of what I do is take care of stray spirits and the occasional evil spirit that manages to slip it's way in. What _that_ thing was, was a mid-level Demon. Those shouldn't be able to get into the campus however"

Thane tilted his head in confusion, "well if something that strong can't get in, then what was it doing here?"

Setsuna shook her head as she sighed heavily, "I'm not sure, but sometime ago, less than an hour actually, the Campus barrier went down for about 12 seconds. That was when we had the momentary power out"

"Guk!..."

Thane felt a sharp pang split through his chest as he turned his head away from her sheepishly.

'_oops…'_

Thane then started to laugh out loud, a little louder than he had intended,

"HA HA HA HA! Well at least you took care of it! So all's well that ends well"

Setsuna nodded her head in agreement, "yes, that was the last one to be taken care of, and minus you, nobody was hurt or killed"

Thane blinked a few times, not sure if heard her right, "wait… 'Last one'? There were more?"

"Yes, about six managed to get into the school campus before the barrier came back online. The one I killed was the last one. But the real issue is why the barrier went down…"

Thane was starting to sweat bullets right now,

'_great… so this is __**my**__ fault! Karmas a bitch…' _

The sound of somebody walking down the road ended their current discussion and made the both of them turn their heads in unison.

Setsuna lightened up a little when she saw who it was, "ah, Thank goodness. I have one injured over here, he has two grade blue Injures, his left leg and his right shoulder"

Thane was surprised to see an elementary school girl, about 6th grade, who was wearing large glasses, a beret and had long black hair that was tied into two braids that went down the side of her face,

"o-Ok…I'll get on it"

Setsuna nodded her head in confirmation and turned her attention back to Thane, "alright Thane, I have to leave to make my report, but I'll see you later at the Dorms"

"Alright, see you there"

Setsuna quickly took off down the road and out of sight, leaving him with the somewhat shy girl.

Thane observed her for a moment, seeing as she didn't come over immediately and couldn't help but smile at her, "You can come over you know, I won't bite you"

The girl slightly jolted and hastily came over, pulling a scepter from her waist.

"r-Right! Sorry! Um… let me see here…"

She walked up next to him and looked down at his leg and then at his shoulder, she almost fainted when she saw the hole in his shoulder, she could even see through it to the forest behind him.

Thane slightly winced from her expression,

"yeah… kinda gruesome. But based on that alone, I can tell you've not seen a lot of injuries like this eh?"

The girl shook her head, "n-no… This is actually the first time I've been in full on combat…"

Thane smiled at her, knowing the feeling, "ahhhh… first time jitters then. But thankfully from the sounds of it, everything went alright. The name is Thane by the way"

The girl got done examining his shoulder and took a deep breath,

"Natsume Megumi… can… can you please take your shirt off?"

Thane nodded his head and complied with her order, but suddenly had a wicked thought creep into his mind,

"oh goodness… With me being so weak right now, if a certain girl mage decided to take advantage of me, I wouldn't be able to stop her… be gentle…"

Thane started to giggle when he saw the girls flustered face; however he regretted it when he felt the pain lance up through his upper body.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself… so if you could please take care of this wound, I would be very grateful"

Megumi quickly shook her head and got to work. As she started her spell, Thane started going over her name in his head for the heck of it

'_Natsume Megumi… Natsume Megumi… Natsu Megumi… Natsu Megu… Natsu Megu?'_

Thane suddenly lit up in realization,

"Nutmeg!"

Instead of finishing her spell, the girl did a face plant into the ground before rising quickly,

"H-How do you know my nickname!?"

"That's your nickname? It's adorable"

The girl flustered, but started to get kinda annoyed,

"can you please let me finish my spell? That can't possibly be very comfortable for you"

She pointed out the gaping hole in his shoulder to emphasize her point, Thane grimaced at her words,

"Sorry, please continue"

The girl quickly got to work on his shoulder, that being the more serious wound of the two at the moment.

Nutmeg took a few deep breaths, as if to steady herself for the task that would need to be done, she then held up her scepter and a magical field began to form around her,

"_Rap Tjap la Tjap Ragpur…Sine gratia sanitatum Neptuni filias rarum caro et ossa, Tactu Aquae"_ (Let the healing grace of Neptune and his daughter's knit flesh and bone, Water's Touch. P.S. Not a Canon spell)

Small droplets of water started to materialize from the end of her scepter, each one glowing with a blue light. This went on for about ten seconds before there were enough to make a small glassful.

Nutmeg then directed it to his shoulder, where the water entered the wound, causing Thane to flinch a little from the sudden intrusion, the pain was only momentary however, and he instantly started to feel his shoulder fixing itself from the inside-out while the water soothed his pain away.

By the time it got done, the only thing that even indicated that there was an injury was the hole in Thane's shirt.

Nutmeg opened her eyes and breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw the smooth and completed flesh.

Thane rotated his arm around a few times to test the extent of the healing. The Male smiled wide when he felt the arm move as it should,

"Great! You did a fantastic job on this Nutmeg!"

The Glasses girl laughed sheepishly,

"My name isn't Nutmeg… But you're welcome. Now we need to take care of your broken leg, those are a little harder to deal with, so could you please drink this?"

She reached into a pouch on her side and pulled out a small vile with a milky white substance inside.

Thane eyed it suspiciously, "That stuff looks weird… you're not trying to drug me and take me back to your secret underground lair so you can have your way with me are you?"

Megumi started to flail her arms around wildly, "Why do you keep suggesting this stuff?! It's to help your bone's react with magic more easily!-!-!"

Thane giggled again, "Sorry, sorry… can't help it, you just look like one of those types who are very easy to pick on"

The girl could only sigh as Thane took it from her hands and downed it in one go.

"Alright, please hold out your leg, this might take a while, so try not to move it ok?"

Thane simply nodded his head in confirmation. She quickly chanted her spell and got to work on the broken limb, leaving Thane to ponder on the earlier fight,

'_geez… I was totally pathetic out there... If I was at least at 15% power then I could have handled myself no problem… I'm also going to need to refresh my memory on how to use Chi… I can't have people coming to save my sorry butt every time something goes wrong… of course it would have helped if I didn't panic so that I could have used my Omni-tool… Man, if Juno hadn't been there, I would be so dead right now… speaking of…' _

Thane looked out over at the dead carcass of the Monster and thought back to how it ended up in that condition,

'_Juno… he was really really strong… he didn't even flinch when he saw that thing, and those needles! How did he launch them with so much power? Had a human taken one of those to the chest, it would have ripped a hole right through them… Juno Nagase… I'm going to have to ask Kaede about her older Brother, I'm guessing that since he is a ninja, she might be one as well… But nothing is confirmed as of right now, plus, that seal work for Eva needs to be done Pronto, I have to figure out what happened there… so much to do… and I only have a few days of spring break left to do it… goodness me, I'm going to be busy…'_

Thane let out an audible sigh, which didn't go unnoticed by his charge,

"Um… is everything alright? You're not experiencing some pain are you? They said that substance would remove the pain from the limb… but maybe it's my magic… oooooohhhh… I knew I wasn't good at this…"

Thane quickly shook himself out of his revere and looked down at her, "Oh! No, it's not you; just thinking about other things is all… You're doing a fine job Nutmeg"

The girl was about to argue with him about how her name wasn't Nutmeg, but gave up on it since he seemed dead set on it.

After she got done with the healing she stood back up and bowed,

"You should be all fixed up now. I need to go ahead and leave to make my report; do you need a guide to make it back?"

Thane put his shirt back on and smiled at her, "are you offering? Or is it part of your duty?"

"P-part of my duty…"

Thane gave her a mock frown, "aw… what a shame, I thought the view of my manly chest would have left you swooning over me"

Getting one last jib out of her, Thane laughed a little while he waved his hand,

"No, I'm fine. I can make it back to the Dorm on my own. Thank you for the healing Megumi-san. I Hope to see you later"

Thane waved at her as he went about his way, the previous day starting to catch up to him as he walked.

**Xx Sometime later, after some sleep and rest (it is the next day after all) xX**

***Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep***

The buzzing sound of a cell phone alarm forced a sleepy and grumpy Thane to roll over on the couch and smash his hand into the table to grab the annoying phone.

Thane pulled the phone up to his face and looked at the time on the buzzer

:6:30_! Time to wake up and train with Setsuna! Hiya!: _

Thane had made that little message for his amusement, now it just annoyed him right now. He pressed the silence button, letting the phone fall to his chest as he let go of his motor skills

'_right… training… I don't wanna… I still feel like crap after that fight early early this morning… maybe if I send her a text she'll understand… yeah I'll do that' _

Thane pulled his Phone back up to his face and started to type out his message, however, about halfway through, he had a wicked thought and erased it to retype the whole thing.

When he got done, he grinned with a devilish smile,

"he he he… that should fluster her for a little while…"

Thane pressed the send button and went back to sleep.

**Xx Setsuna Sakurazaki xX**

Setsuna was sitting in front of the world tree meditating for her soon to be practice match with Thane, she envisioned every move he would make, her counters, his counters, his foot work, her foot work, every slice and stroke matched blow for blow, that is until her phone started buzzing in her bike shorts.

Then she lost her concentration, "What the… who would be sending me a text this early?"

She quickly pulled her phone out and saw the address was from Thane. She then opened the message and did a spit take.

_:Hewwo Secchan! It's me! Sorry, but I won't be able to make it today, the fight with the big baddy left me feeling vewwy tired :'(. But don't worry! I'll make it up to you tomorrow with a lot of sweat and body mashing~! *hugs and cuddles!* from your bestest morning partner!:_

"ah wa wa wa wa wa…. What the heck!?"

Setsuna was blushing very badly; the simple girly charm and very childish vocabulary making her feel embarrassed. She quickly stuffed the Phone back in her pocket and got back up, her concentration having been completely destroyed at this point,

"Great… I guess I will start my morning practice myself then…"

She got started, but the message didn't leave her mind the whole day…

**Xx back to Thane, a few hours later (8:00) xX**

Once again, Thane found himself awake; however, it wasn't from his noisy cell-phone. No, this time, it was a pair of human's who woke him up, a very frustrated and rather annoyed pair who went by the names of Yuna and Akira.

"Alright, spill your guts. Where did you go last night?"

Thane sat nervously in the Seiza position, trying to avoid the angry glares of his roommates,

"I went to visit a friend last night… Didn't the Narutaki twins tell you?"

Yuna rolled her eyes, "Yup they did, and we didn't think anything of it until you came home at **1 O'clock in the morning with a shredded shirt!** You looked like you got in a fight with a lawnmower!"

Thane chuckled nervously to himself,

'_Demon actually. But I ain't gonna tell you that…'_

***WHACK***

"OUCH! What the heck was that for!?"

Thane was rubbing the back of his head where Yuna hit him with a spatula,

"Why are you chuckling to yourself!? You're in trouble right now! Head down and look guilty!"

Thane did as he was told reluctantly, "I pity your future husband you know…"

***Whack!* **

"OUCH!"

'_Note to self: Don't back talk when she's holding the Spatula…'_

"Spill it! Where did you really go!?"

Thane held his hand up to try to quell her anger, "Like I said! I went to visit a friend!"

"LIES! You've been hanging out in the girls division of the Campus the whole time and you just so happen to go and visit a guy friend that we've never even heard of until now? I've never smelled something that reeked so much of BS!"

Thane started to sweat bullets. He was running out of viable excuses and he knew they were cornering him, so he went with old faithful,

"I'm telling the truth! I went to visit my guy friend and then we decided to go and play a prank! It got a little out of hand so that's why my shirt looked like it did! Honest!"

Akira, having been silent this whole time, spoke up before Yuna could,

"What's his name?"

Thane blinked a few times, the question catching him off guard.

"Huh?"

"What is his name? I'm going to call this friend of yours up and ask him about last night. If you're telling the truth, then he should confirm the story. If not, then we _will_ find out what you really did last night"

Thane was more afraid of Akira in that one moment then he had ever been before, the ice of her absolution evident in her tone of voice.

This was it, Thane had hit the wall full speed and he was fixing to have to pay for the damages,

"um… his name… Yeah, his name… it's uh… um…"

The looks from both of them told him that he would receive no sympathy.

'_I am so dead… wait!' _

In a last ditch effort to save itself, Thane's brain had come up with the name of one person, the very man who saved his sorry ass just last night, hopefully, he could do so a second time,

"Juno! His name is Juno!"

Both Yuna and Akira looked at each other and then to Thane, unconvinced.

"What's his **full** name?"

Yuna smiled smugly to herself, she thought she had him cornered with that one. But much to both of their surprise, he instantly answered,

"Juno Nagase! He happens to be Kaede-san's older Brother!"

Both the athletes slightly blanched at that,

"Nagase-san has an older brother?"

Yuna started to scratch her head in both confusion and surprise,

"Huh… she never really talked much in class, but I wasn't aware that she had a brother. However! I'm going to go look him up in the student phonebook, just to check and see! You stay right there, and if you're lying, so help me, it'll be a **frying pan** I smack you with next!"

Thane wasn't worried about the being hit with a frying pan… ok maybe he was, but that wasn't the thing that worried him most right now.

He was worried that Juno was going to spill the beans about it being a demon, then Thane would have to go into an explanation about magic and how Eva's a vampire, Negi was a mage, he was a person from a different dimension and so on and so forth.

It wouldn't be pretty.

Thane sat there, slightly shuffling from knee to knee under Akira's ever keen gaze.

Several minutes passed by as Yuna shuffled around in the foyer for the phone book until she finally found it.

Thane watched as she pulled out her cell phone and quickly flipped through the pages until she landed on the page she wanted. She put in the number present and then put the phone to her ear. After a few rings, the phone clicked to indicate that somebody had picked up,

"_Who are you and what do ya want?"_

Yuna blanched from the very rude greeting she just received, but attempted to ignore it,

"Um… Hi. My Name is Yuna Akashi. Is Juno-san there?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone before somebody suddenly started shouting, forcing Yuna to yank the phone away from her ear.

"_OI! JUNO YOU ASSHOLE! YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T HAVE A GIRLFRIEND! I'M TALKING TO HER RIGHT NOW! HER NAMES YUNA!WHAT DO YA MEAN YA NEVER HEARD OF HER BEFORE, SHE CALLED YOU BY PHUCKING FIRST NAME! FINE! BUT I'M STILL GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!"_

After he managed to get his voice to tolerable levels, the fellow on the other end spoke up,

"_alright lady, my roommate says he's never heard of ya before. What do ya want with him?"_

Yuna was almost afraid to continue with the conversation, but the mystery of where her roommate went last night was much stronger,

"Um… I was hoping to talk to him real quick; can he come to the phone?"

The fellow on the other end of the line didn't even give an answer, but the fact that it sounded like he was shouting from across the room gave Yuna an indicator that he had gone to get him.

Thane, who had heard the exchange, was sweating even harder now.

Yuna lit up,

"Oh! Hello! Yes, I'm Yuna. You probably haven't heard of me, but I do know your sister, Kaede-san. Well… I'm not really a friend of hers, just somebody that knows each other. No, nothing's happened to her, I was actually calling to ask you about a friend of mine. His name is Thane Mastizetai…yeah. Really? Oh… I see… Alright, that's all I wanted to know. Huh? Oh! Sure! I'll let him know you said Hi; and your sister too! Huh? Oh! No problem! Though your friend was kinda loud… no, Thanks, Bye!"

She hung the phone up and placed the phone book back in the dresser she pulled it from.

After a few more seconds of staring down at the table she turned her attention back to the other two in the living room and shrugged her shoulders, "He was telling the truth Akira, they just hung out last night, that's it"

Thane would have done a victory dance right then and there if he wasn't sitting down.

Akira glanced at Yuna and then to Thane, letting out a loud sigh, "Alright… fine… we'll believe you Thane"

Thane quickly hopped to his feet and smiled at them both, "Thanks you two! It really was just me hanging out with a friend! Now if you don't mind, I need to head out for a little while. See you both tonight!"

Before either one of them could ask him where he was going, Thane had dashed through the door and down the hall.

Yuna and Akira both blinked before they turned to each other

"Did you believe him?"

Akira glanced at the door in annoyance, "Not a word of it"

Yuna nodded her head in agreement, "Likewise"

Akira sat down on the couch, crossing her arms in thought, "so what should we do about it?"

Yuna grinned widely as she crossed her arms, "That should be obvious. We're going to tail him today! Or… it should be 'we' but… I gotta meet to get to and the coach said he would make me run 130 laps if I came late again. I leave the tailing to you Akira! Don't worry! I Put a GPS Tracker in his phone while he slept the morning away!"

The swimmer felt a nervous sweat drop fall from her temple, "um… isn't that close to stalker like behavior?"

Yuna patted her friend on the shoulder with a big grin plastered on her face, "Don't worry about it! Now you go and find out what he's doing while I go and make sure not to get killed. Catch you later!"

And fast as a flash, Yuna was out the door. Akira shook her head,

"leave me with all the work then… Guess I better go and Track Thane then… though it feels like I'm about to commit a crime…"

(Warning to all good boys and girls, Stalking is a crime. Don't do it)

**Xx to Thane xX**

Thane was resting against one of the many lamp posts that dotted the campus scenery, trying to catch his breath

'_holy crap… thought I was going to get busted there for a second! But! None can catch me when I run for the hills!... that just sounds sad when I think about it…' _

Thane pushed himself off the pole, having recovered enough of his breath to begin the day,

"alright… I should probably avoid going back home for a little while… but what does that leave me to do…"

Thane thought about it for a little bit before he suddenly lit up in remembrance, "Ah! I better get to looking into that seal for the time being! I wonder if instead of breaking it, I can find a loop hole in the construction…"

Thane started to walk down the road, his thoughts drifting toward the problem in general. He continued on down the road for a good while, his feet simply on auto-pilot while he thought out the conundrum that was Eva's seal

'_no no no… that wouldn't work… the magical equation is all wrong… this worlds magical mechanics are vastly different compared to the ones in Estoria, the usual magical quotient just wouldn't work… it would take waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long to try to craft a new one from scratch, and that's not counting all the time it would take to study the algorithms and formulas that would be needed to even begin to speculate! No… the more I think about it, the more I need to find a loop hole…but where am I going to find the key to a loop hole for a vampire's-!' _

Thane stopped right in his tracks, his thought process starting to kick up into hyper-drive,

'_waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait a minute… a vampire… vampire's suck blood… and for a seal this powerful, the blood of the caster would be an absolute must! Wait wait wait wait… can't get ahead of myself here. There are only a few known records of vampires breaking the seals that casters had put on them, but there are only about 2% that include the actual drinking of blood to do so…It's a hard study, plus, this isn't Estoria. Who knows if the same principles would still apply? But… It's the only thing I have to work on… I need to get to Library Island Pronto!'_

Thane, though not sure if it would work, suddenly had excitement running through his veins. So much in fact that he took off running down the street and right into somebody he didn't notice,

"Wagh!"

The other person, being much lighter on their feet then him, hopped to the side, causing Thane to miss them completely and face-skid into the ground. When he came to a halt, he could feel the sting of both humiliation and the pavement on his raw face

"Ow… that hurt…"

"Are you alright sir? You are not injured anywhere are you?"

Thane sat up and shook his head, both to indicate his answer and to clear his head up a bit,

"no, I'm fine. Thanks for the concern though…"

Thane turned his attention to the worried person and was surprised to see who it was, "Nagase-san? Is that you?"

The tall brown haired girl smiled at him, "well is this not a pleasant surprise. Hello to you Thane-dono. How are you on this day?"

Thane managed to pick himself back up and dust himself off, "Pretty good! I haven't seen you all spring break! Where have you been?"

Thane looked her up and down and was slightly surprised to see her wearing some old fashioned training clothes.

"Oh, just up in the back hills, outdoor camping and all that. I like to get out in nature every weekend and train myself. And since it was spring break, I thought now was a good time for it."

Thane nodded his head, noticing some small signs of the truth of her words,

"I see. You must have just gotten back then, you still have a few twigs and leaves in your hair and in your training clothes"

Kaede crossed her arms and smiled the whole time.

"oops. Forgive me for that. I had thought I got them all"

Thane shrugged his shoulders, not really finding anything wrong with the look, "That's alright, It doesn't really both me. As a matter of fact, I find it kind of endearing, but if I may ask, why where you out enjoying nature in training clothes?"

Kaede started to scratch her head, "Hum… I guess simply because I was training"

Thane tilted his head, finding the fact that she was running around the real reason to be funny

"Training for what?"

Kaede shrugged her shoulders in an unconcerned manner,

"you know… for the walking club"

Thane slightly chuckled to himself as he finally decided to quite teasing,

"looks like you won't say anything about it… But I know what you where really doing in the back hills of Mahora, or I do now at least"

Never once losing her smile, Kaede folded her arms in an amused manner,

"Oh? And what was I doing then?"

Thane wagged his finger at her in amusement,

"Ninja training"

The both of them stared at each other for a little bit longer before Kaede let out a defeated sigh, "ah… How did you find out?"

Thane smiled wide as he put his hands in his pockets, "Your older brother, Juno"

Kaede nodded her head, as if understanding some hidden meaning, "I see… my brother was always very good at keeping secrets, but he has been known to slip up a little bit. But do tell me Thane-dono, how do you know my Honored brother?"

Thane sheepishly grinned and started to rub his right shoulder in thought from the previous night, "I know him thanks to the fact that he saved my life last night, I found out that he was a Ninja from watching him kick the crap out of a monster last night. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but he declared his name and Ninja rank when he was about to take it down. I figured that you might also be a Ninja by extension"

Kaede nodded her head at the reasoning, "Astute ~ De-Gozaru. As you guessed, both my brother and I are ninja's. though we are both self taught one's at that, our parents didn't see the need to train us when we were younger, so we taught ourselves with some slight instruction from our deceased grandparents"

Thane nodded his head, the impression of her words sinking in, "I have to say this Kaede-san… the fact that your both self taught is amazing, and if your anything like your brother, Then even more so to say that I am **beyond** impressed with the skills I saw"

Kaede chuckled a little as she started to scratch the back of her head sheepishly, "I hate to say, But my brother is above me in terms of ability. He surpasses me in both the usage of Tools and the use of Taijutsu."

Thane simply shook his head, "I'm not sure where your ability lies in comparison with your brothers, but I'm still impressed. By the way… where can I find your brother if I wanted to talk with him?"

Kaede shook her head and thought about it for a little bit, "I am not sure… though I am sure you can find my honored brother in his dorm room at the Male dorms for the college students if need be"

Thane nodded his head in comprehension, "alright, Thanks for the info. Sorry for taking up your time Kaede-san"

The tall woman shook her head, "No trouble at all Thane-dono. Perhaps we can talk more in the near future, I feel that I can share my secret with you with no chance of problems afterward"

Thane nodded his head, "Anytime Kaede-san. See you later"

With that, Thane waved his hand at her and she in turn did the same.

After leaving the Ninja behind, Thane scratched his chin happily as he walked,

"huh… Ninja's eh? That's pretty damned cool…"

He couldn't help but chuckle a little at the thought, but quickly got over it and went back to the current problem about Eva's seal.

Meanwhile, about thirty yards away and attempting to dress inconspicuously, Akira was trailing behind her Teacher/dorm mate.

'_Alright… I don't know what he was talking with Kaede about, but I guess it was pretty friendly… does he always meet Kaede this early? I'll ask him about it later, for now I need to keep on him'_

Thane, totally unaware of his current stalker, kept on the path to Library Island, or at least what **he** thought the path was. That thought quickly changed when he had been walking for over an hour and had yet to reach his destination.

Thane looked around and saw that he was nowhere near his destination and started to scratch the back of his head sheepishly,

"Oops… Looks like I'm lost"

The sound of tumbling trashcans didn't really bother him, But Akira, who had been hiding behind them, was pretty much livid at this point,

'_I should have known!-!' _

Thane looked around for a few more minutes before he took a seat on a bench close by, pulling out his cell phone in the process,

"I wonder if I should give Akira a call… ask her to come and help me out… of course, the smart thing would have been to get Sayo first before I set out… *Sigh* I am not at my best right now…"

Thane slumped his shoulders at his predicament and leaned back against the bench, his thoughts swirling this way and that.

After a few more minutes of internal debate, Thane sat up straight and his face lit up in realization,

"Ah! It might be better if I ask somebody for directions!"

Thane quickly started to look around in hopes of finding a soul that would/could help him. His search didn't last very long before he spotted a short haired person from behind, her skirt waving back and forth as she walked with her head down in her cell-phone.

"Excuse me!"

At the call of his voice, the person stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him.

Thane quickly walked over to her, "Hello! I was just… wondering… wait a minute… Ha! Hey there Madoka-san!"

Much to his surprise, Thane had just so happened to come across the serious and more logical of the Cheerleaders, Madoka Kugimiya.

"Oh, hello Thane-sensei. Fancy meeting you here"

Thane crossed his arms and smiled at her, "Like wise! So what **are** you doing out here? Going to enjoy your spring break? I find it a little odd that you're not with the other two though"

"I just so happen to be going to meet with them now. We plan on going out to Karaoke, and then after that… well, Misa didn't plan that far, but we'll see… But on another note, did you need something Sensei?"

Thane nodded his head, "Yes, I did actually. I was just wondering where I was, I tend to get turned around a lot…"

Madoka tilted her head and smiled at him, "huh… alright. Right now, you're pretty close to the student shopping area. I hope you don't mind my asking; but where are you going? Or are you just wandering around?"

Thane unfolded his arms and shrugged his shoulders, "I was actually on my way to Library Island. But since you mention it, I'm actually pretty surprised by where I am. Isn't Library Island close to the shopping Area?"

Madoka tilted her head in thought and crossed her arms, as if doing so would help her.

"I think so… it might be shorter to go the through park, but I tend to get turned around in there. Your best bet would be to go the shopping district route, but that's just a personal opinion"

Thane nodded his head and started to contemplate her suggestions.

'_Looks like the park is out of the question… if she gets turned around in there, then my chances might not be any better… not that I'm saying I have a bad sense of direction or anything!'_

Thane shook the traitorous thought from his mind and looked back at the student,

"I see. Thank you for the advice Madoka-san! Another thing however…"

"Yes?"

Thane started to blush a little bit, "Um… do you perhaps mind if… if I went with you? Like I said, I tend to get turned around easily"

Madoka, who wasn't one to let things get to her, started to fluster a little at his embarrassment

"Um… sure… I don't mind. Just follow me, the way you need to go will be on the way"

Thane nodded his head and bowed a short bow.

"Thanks! This should help me out a lot!"

With that, the both of them got underway.

Akira, who had watched the whole thing from the cover of a bench and a week old newspaper, lowered it and followed them, her mind starting to crank up to 11

'_Kugimiya-san? Why is he meeting with Kugimiya-san all the way out in the park? This… could this possibly be… a date?'_

She sat there for a moment longer, contemplating the thought of the idea and shook her head

'_no… it couldn't be… he hasn't made a mention of such a thing before… but… maybe… I should follow them just in case?' _

Not finding an answer to her unasked question, Akira pulled up her trench coat and followed them as stealthily as she possibly could.

Meanwhile, Thane and Madoka were walking along in almost complete silence.

Madoka her face in her phone while Thane couldn't help but nervously shuffle behind her.

'_well, this is getting somewhat awkward…'_

He looked over at the student, hoping that she might initiate conversation of some sort, or perhaps be looking over at him in a mildly curious manner.

She did neither one.

She was still busy texting into her phone, quite content to remain silent the whole venture.

Thane, feeling the oppressive (and imagined) weight on his shoulders from the awkwardness, decided to break the ice,

"So Madoka-san…"

The cheerleader stopped her texting and looked back at her teacher,

"yes sensei?"

"Who in the world are you texting to? It couldn't possibly be Misa or Sakurako could it?"

Madoka looked at him for a second before her eyes lit up in sudden realization, "oh! I'm sorry sensei! That was rude of me; I didn't mean to ignore you! I was just texting my dad you see, he and I really don't get a lot of chances to talk and I figured I should text him on the way to where Misa and Sakurako where waiting"

Thane grinned a little at her and waved away her sudden concern,

"Oh don't worry about it. If you're talking with a parent or other such family member, don't let me get in the way of it. I'll just calmly stay out of the way."

Kugimiya quickly sent another text on her phone and put it away,

"Nah, I got it. I'll talk with dad later. You looked like you wanted to say something the whole time"

Thane blinked a few times before he lightly giggled, "he he… no, not really. I had simply thought the silence was starting to get awkward and I wanted to break it. But, since I have your rapt attention, would you mind answering a question?"

"Depends. What's the question?"

Thane threw the idea around in his head for a little bit before he spoke up, "It's about what you just said actually. When you say you and your dad don't get a lot of chances to talk…"

Thane didn't out-right ask, but the implied meaning was still there.

Thankfully, Madoka caught the hidden message and nodded her head, "oh, that? It's just as it sounds. Me and my dad never get a chance to talk, mostly because of his work"

Thane, now interested, started stroking his chin in curiosity, "what does he do? It has to be important if it takes up so much of his time"

Madoka tilted her head and smiled knowingly at her sensei, "It doesn't take up **that** much of his time. He always sends me presents on my B-day and he always stops by the house on holidays. But as for what he does? He's a mythologist."

Thane's interest had truly been piqued at this point, "really? Now _that_ sounds like it would be a pretty fun job!"

"Ha! My dad like's to try to convince me that it is. But I don't see what can be so fun about reading old books about old fairy tales from some old time ago" Madoka was shrugging her shoulders, but it was only a half hearted gesture.

"Well Madoka-san, I tend to find that the truth behind old myths can be more interesting than the actual legends themselves"

Madoka glanced over her shoulder and flashed him yet another smile, "You sound like my dad when you say that"

Thane started to rub his chin sagely, "Oh-ho! Perhaps I'm his clone?"

Madoka gave a slight shudder at the thought, "Oh lord I hope not. I love him to death, but the world doesn't need two of my dad running around everywhere"

The both of them laughed together, the awkward feeling that had been there having no trace in the conversation anymore. Thane smiled at her as he settled down with his laughter.

'_Huh, I did it. I broke the ice. Madoka can be a funny person when she wants to be'_

"So Thane-sensei…"

The pale youth jumped from his thoughts being disturbed, but quickly righted himself,

"yes Madoka-san?"

"Since we're on the subject of questions, I have one of my own"

Thane nodded his head and crossed his arms matter-of-factly, all of happy to answer her, "Ask away, it's part of my job"

"Alright then… I never really questioned it until now, and just took it in stride like everybody else. But what are you doing here?"

Thane couldn't help but tilt his head in some mild confusion,

"Um… here right now? Looking for the library. Or did you mean something else?"

Madoka noticed her slight slip and quickly corrected herself,

"Oops! Sorry! I meant what are you doing here? At Mahora as an assistant teacher. You graduated recently from college at the top of your grade from a super elite school correct? Why aren't you out building rockets or writing books and other such genius stuff? Why an assistant English teacher to a ten year old?"

Thane didn't have an answer. Of the questions he had been expecting, that wasn't a really high one on his list.

"Um… why, you ask? Well…"

Thane couldn't help but glance at her a few times before he simply shrugged his shoulders,

"I guess the easiest way to put this is because I Kinda don't have anything planned out for myself right now. Other than getting my Kids back, I guess I'm just doing this to kill time for now"

Madoka tilted her head in remembrance, "Oh yeah… I remember Makie saying something about you having kids. Are you married or something?"

Thane rolled his eyes, he had obviously not gotten the point across with Makie yet,

"No, I am not married. I told her that my kids are adopted… gods how many times do I need to tell her…"

"Adopted? They're orphans then?"

Thane glanced at her for a moment before he nodded his head, "Yes, they are. You might be curious, but I would ask you not to inquire into the reason why. In truth, it's not a story I can really tell without each of their consent. If you want to know the reasons why and how I met each of them, you'll have to ask each of them"

Madoka nodded her head in understanding and slightly smiled, "I see… But, where are they now? I haven't seen any kids around you in the time you've been here"

Thane nervously started to scratch the back of his head, "Um… well, there is a reason for that…"

'_Oh crap… I don't have a cover story for that set up! Quick! Think of something!'_

Thane stopped walking for a second, trying to come up with a believable excuse in the span of twenty seconds

"Uh… they… currently are… kinda still in school! They also have to get passport! I had to fly ahead of them and get some lodging for them to legally come here and stuff!"

'_That sounded so fake…'_

Much to his surprise, Madoka nodded her head in some understanding, "Ahhh… I see. That makes sense!"

Thane couldn't help but cock his eyebrow in some mild confusion.

'_she believed me? Does everybody in this school take everything I say at face value? Whatever…'_

Thankfully, the rest of the trip was short and filled with random snippets of conversation ranging from the weather to new music. When it got to music however, Madoka started going all out, especially when it came to western stuff,

"Avril Lavigne's Music is just so full of inspiration! Have you heard her before?"

Thane couldn't help but chuckle to himself at her enthusiasm, "I can't say I have, but if you're so pumped for it, maybe I should start listening?"

Madoka eagerly nodded her head, "You have no Idea what you're missing! I'll let you borrow a CD of mine when we get back to the dorms!"

"Heeeeeeeeeeeyyyyy! Madoka! Over here!"

The two teens turned their attention to the sound of the voice, quickly noting the presence of Sakurako and Misa.

Madoka raised her hand in greeting "Oh, hey you two. I thought we were meeting in front of the café first?"

Both Misa and Sakurako turned to each other and lightly laughed to each other, "Are you playing Dumb Madoka? Your standing right in front of it"

Madoka blinked in confusion for a second before she turned her head and saw that she was indeed standing in front of the designated location.

"Oh Crap!"

She quickly turned to Thane and bowed in apology, "I'm sorry! We missed the road you were supposed to go on!"

Thane waved her concern away, simply smiling at her, "Don't worry about it. I was having too much fun to notice anyway"

Both Misa and Sakurako turned to each other again, some interested smile on their faces.

"Oh? What's this?"

They quickly got on either side of their friend, trapping her between their bodies,

"What did he mean you were having too much fun? Was it something dirty I wonder? Uf fu fu…"

Madoka started to blush From the Girls implied meaning,

"N-No! He meant we were having a lot of fun just talking! God, why do you have to try to make everything into a sex joke?-!"

Misa let her face fall in mock sadness, "aw… that's just boring… and I am the (self-Implied) 2-A queen of Sexy after all. I have to crack a sexual joke every so Often"

Madoka only shook her head at the self-titled queen while Misa turned her attention to Thane

"So what are you doing here Sensei? Are you perhaps here…on a date?"

Thane quickly waved his hands back and forth, his face rather red at the prospect, "Oh no no no no! As much as I might have _liked _that, it definitely is not a date!... wait… I didn't mean it like-!"

Too little too late, Misa was grinning widely with nothing but mischief on her face, "Oh-ho! So you were hoping it would turn into one then! Hoping that you could take her to a local bar and get her drunk enough for you have your way with her… Uf fu fu… you dirty teacher you"

Now Both Thane **and** Madoka where pretty red in the face, Madoka quickly getting up into her friends face

"M-M-M-MISA! Now you're going way too far! Besides! He's not even the type of guy I Like!"

Thane quickly felt a sharp pang tear through his heart, _'ouch… I know that she was just trying to throw her friend off… but ouch…' _

The senior cheerleader started to giggle to herself at the two of them, "Ha! I was just messing with ya!"

Sakurako, however, felt that she was perhaps being left out of the conversation just a little too much, and decided to poke her little bit into it, "Sooooooo… if you're not here on a date Thane-sensei… what are you doing here for?"

"Well… Long story short, I was trying to get to Library Island, I got lost, Madoka found me, and the rest is as it is. I ended up here. Why? Because I was having too much fun"

The rest of the group couldn't help but giggle at the deadpan manner he delivered all that in, but Misa quickly recovered, "Ah ha… well, if you're still interested in going to the library, just go back the way you came by two blocks and make a left at the Café. It should be a straight shot to the library from there. But… if you felt like it, not that I'm implying anything, you could come hang out with us if you wanted; You did say you wanted to get to know each of the students better"

"Hum… tempting…" Thane actually had to sit there and think about it for a second. It would be nice to hang out with the cheerleaders, but he knew that the situation about Eva's seal would bug him to no end if he didn't get on it now.

With a sigh, Thane shook his head at the group, "I would like too, really I would; but I happen to have something important I need to take care of right now. Perhaps another time maybe? I'm just afraid that this week might be a bit stretched thin for me."

Misa could only shrug her shoulders while Sakurako and Madoka nodded their heads in understanding.

"Alright, if you say so. Catch you later Sensei"

Thane waved them Goodbye, quickly following the direction that the cheerleaders gave him.

Misa turned her attention to The Short haired one of the group and gave her a mischief making smile, "For somebody who isn't your type, you sure did look like you were having a lot of fun with him. I could hear you laughing from three blocks down"

Madoka felt her face go red again, but she managed to keep it straight, "You're reading way too much into it…"

She quickly walked past her friend, determined to stop talking about it, "Come on, I thought we were here to enjoy the last few days of our spring break?"

Misa could only shrug her should and shake her head, "yes, your right. Let's get to the Karaoke!"

Shiina quickly raised her hand in celebration of the event, but quickly became distracted when she saw someone out of the corner of her eye, drawing her attention away from the group.

"Huh? Hey… isn't that someone we know?"

The other two girls turned their attention to what Sakurako was talking about. Just as she said, the rest of them recognized the person as someone they knew from Class.

"Isn't that… Okochi-san?"

The aforementioned swimmer was currently hiding behind a telephone pole, peeking out from the edge and watching Thane walk away and down the road.

The three cheerleaders where momentarily silent from the odd display.

Misa was the first to break the odd silence, "Uh… well… I guess it's not our problem! Let's get going before anything else happens!"

**Xx back to Thane xX**

Thankfully, Misa's directions to the library where spot on, just two blocks and a single turn. In less than what had to have been 20 minutes of walking, Thane finally managed to make it to the place he needed, Library Island.

The familiar structure loomed higher over him as he came closer, eventually reaching the front student entrance.

After signing in with the registration forms, he started to wander around on the first floor of the building, hoping that he might find the book he would need there. As he continued searching, he noticed that there wasn't that many students, but of course, that was to be expected on spring break.

However, he did perhaps notice someone he thought was familiar and quickly called out, "Hey! Yue! Is that you?"

The short girl quickly turned around at the call of her name and nodded her head, "ah. Thane-sensei, how are you doing today?"

Thane quickly walked the few feet between them, not wanting to shout out and be rude to any other of the library goers.

"I'm alright, just here trying to find certain books is all. But what are you doing here?"

"Library Exploration member stuff. We just got back from one such expedition"

Thane nodded his head in some mild understanding. Nodoka. Haruna and Yue would tell him a lot about it when he asked them about it. He had thought it sounded exciting, but they said he would need to fill out several papers if he wanted to go exploring, something he considered to much of a hassle,

"Really… that sounds good. Manage to find anything new?"

Yue only shook her head, her expression Justas stoic as ever,

"Not really. Just collecting some books for references this time… though… I did find an interesting book while I was down there"

Thane, being a scholar in his own right, couldn't help but tilt his head in interest at the prospect

"Oh? What kind of 'interesting' are we talking about here?"

Yue tilted her head, as if not sure on how to phrase the word, "well… it was interesting to me due to the lack of any form of words. I would show it to you, but I left it at the front desk."

"Lack of words?"

Yue noticed Thane's growing curiosity and simply shook her head, "Pentagrams, circles, archaic flowing ruins. I suppose it's a magic book of sorts"

Thane nodded his head once, something about the word 'magic' sending an explorers vibe up his spine, "Sounds interesting. You'll have to let me read it later. But for now I have a question"

Yue turned her attention back to the tall youth and nodded her head.

"alright, what is it?"

"This might sound strange, but can you tell me where I can find books related to Magic and Vampires in the same texts?"

Now Yue was a little surprised, if not confused,

"Magic… and Vampires? Well… I suppose you could find that in the mysticism Branch of Library Island…but, you might not want to go there. It tends to be littered with booby traps, even more so than the rest of the library combined. Only the most senior of Library Exploration members go there"

Thane felt himself slightly spark at the prospect,

"really now? So it's really hard to get down there?"

"Very much so"

Thane started to smile, then he started to giggle, causing confusion on Yue's face.

"What's so funny?"

Thane looked over at her and just gave her a smile, "oh… nothing… Just a funny thought… You wouldn't happen to have a map on you would you?"

Yue wasn't one who would condone fool hardiness, and she could definitely see it right now in her teachers eyes.

"Yes, I have one, but I won't give it to you"

Thane felt his shoulders slump and quickly started to pout

"Oh come on! It won't hurt you to give me a map!"

"You're right. It won't hurt me, but it might get you killed"

Thane glanced down at Yue, feeling slightly annoyed at her, "Oh please. Don't think that I'll be beaten by a simple set of traps. Despite what you may think, I have indeed done something like it before."

"Good for you, my answer is still no"

Now Thane was starting to get pissed, and he let it show by towering over the undaunted girl

"Alright, if you wanna play it the hard way, I'll just take it from you. Now hand it over before I actually have to try to take it from you"

However, the short girl remained unfazed, pulling out a juice box and starting to sip from it, staring up at Thane as if to say _'try it'_

Thane had to admire her mettle; she had obviously stared down things scarier than an angry teen. The both of them simply stared each other down for another few seconds before Thane let out a defeated sigh,

"Oh fine… I won't take your map… I'll get it from Nodoka Instead!"

Before she could even react, Thane had already taken off down the hall, looking for a familiar purple helmet haired girl among the halls.

Yue quickly tried to give chase, but her lack of a lot of physical activity turned to her disadvantage in this case. She chased Thane down for a short period of time, but his morning runs with Setsuna had conditioned his body for many long miles and easily kept away from the twin tail.

After what had to have been several minutes of being chased, Thane finally noticed the lack of another pair of feet behind him, meaning one of two things. He had either eluded Yue, or she had stopped running to throw him off.

He seriously doubted it was the second one.

After a few minutes of checking to see if he was at least still on the right floor, Thane got to work on finding someone who would give him a map (also read as take it from them).

"I will get down into the lower portions if it's the last thing I do… though I would hope that it isn't the last thing I do because I still have a lot of things I would **like** to do…"

Meanwhile, somewhere in the distance behind him, Akira was huffing heavily.

She hadn't been expecting Thane to suddenly take off like that, and she had nearly lost him several times. But thanks to the amount of swimming she did in her club, she had just barely managed to keep up. Swimming was not the same as running you know.

After catching her breath, she peeked around the corner, watching as Thane started to look around and down each hall.

Thane continued his search for someone for a little while, trying to keep out of the way of Yue, who was still hell-bent on keeping him out of the lower levels of Library Island.

After having paced around the library for a good amount of time, Thane let out a huge sigh,

"Geez… I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't just try winging the lower levels… I can't keep pacing around here looking for a map…and I need to stay away from Yue while I'm at it… If it was Haruna or Nodoka I could just get the map off of them… fat chance of that happening though"

"Fat chance of what happening Thane-sensei?"

Now there was a term on earth that Thane had hardly ever heard, but it goes a little something like this

'speak of the devil and he will come'

Only replace 'devil' with 'Haruna' and you have the reason for Thane's current surprise.

"Whoa… uh, hey Haruna! I wasn't expecting to see you here"

The glasses girl (I will go ahead and mention that the author is a glasses loving guy, and finds Haruna to be very very sexy when she wants to be) tilted her head in amused confusion,

"and why wouldn't I be here on Library Island? I **am** part of the Library exploration club after all"

Thane shook his head at his own stupid question, "Right right… I was just surprised to see you when I was thinking about you actually"

"was it something dirty? I hope it was, cause that would be very hot and something I am not opposed to"

Thane stared at her with a hell of a lot of annoyance in his face, "NO! It was not something dirty! Geez, I wonder about your brain sometimes…"

Haruna simply nodded her head at the statement, "You and everybody else, but on too the main question, what are you doing here sensei?"

Thane opened his mouth to answer her, but quickly stopped as he thought about who he was talking to.

'_Will she try to stop me like Yue did?...what the hell am I on about? This is Haruna where talking about here, she'd probably get a kick out of it'_

"Well if you really have to know, I need to get down into the lower levels of the library to find some key books pertaining to the subject of my current interest; and in order to find the books I need, I'm going to need to obtain a map of the lower levels for the Mysticism section"

Haruna quickly caught onto what he was saying and pulled out a map, "ah-ha… so you need this bad boy from me do ya?"

Thane eyed the map in her hand, wondering if he could snatch it from her grasp, but quickly abandoned the thought seeing as she was probably anticipating the move.

"Yup, and if you would be so kind as to give it to me, I would be in your debt…"

Haruna grinned with sly intentions, something she wasn't even bothering to hide from her sensei,

"alright, I'll give it to you…"

She held it out for him to grab, but quickly pulled it away as he felt the small touch of paper on his fingertips.

"Only if you promise to do anything I say for one day in the time of my choosing. These maps aren't very easy to keep track of you know, and pretty expensive for the club to make."

Thane swallowed in some nervous fear. Was it worth it? To make a deal with Haruna of all people? Thane could only shrug his shoulders. Hell, he's made deals with _devils_ before; Making a deal with a teenage girl wouldn't be so bad.

"Alright, I accept that deal"

Something told him in the very depths of his mind that he made a very _very_ bad choice today.

Haruna actually started to purr in delight as she handed it over, "Excellent… have fun, don't get lost, and hopefully, you don't die while your down there"

Thane couldn't help but blink at the somewhat ominous message delivered in such a cheerful manner.

Haruna waved him goodbye and proceeded down the hall with a cheery tune, leaving Thane scratching his head at the oddity of the situation had been in, "well…not the weirdest thing to have ever happened to me… now to read that map"

Thane quickly pulled the rolled up piece of paper open, getting a full view of the map. At first he was smiling at the new map he had, but the longer he looked at it, the harder it was to stay smiling,

"…Crap… I should have asked her how to read it first…"

where he was expecting an easy to follow map of Library island, he saw that it was actually more complex and harder to follow then he thought it was going to be. The section he was looking for, the one the students labeled the Mysticism section, was largely unexplored and marked out with a lot of caution and danger signs on it.

Thane simply shook his head at the complexity and held his hand over the paper, drawing on the small amount of magical reserves he had ready to be used {_"Spiritus Magia: Peregrinator circumdabit"} _(Spirit Magic: Travelers compass)

Akira, who was still watching from a distance, noticed a faint glow coming off of his hands and squinted her eyes at it.

"what is he doing? Why is his hand… glowing?"

She could only ponder on that fact until the glow actually left his hand and lit up the map. Akira's eyes settled on the paper as it lit up, several line and paths showing up from her vantage point and leaving two large glowing dots on it.

Thane nodded his head as he examined the paper, "Good… glad to see I can still do that one… so… the shortest path looks like… this way then? Alright"

Thane nodded his head and passed down the halls of the Library, Akira following closely behind him.

After about 30 or so minutes of evading staff, students, and one pissed off twin-tail, Thane (and by extension, Akira) had managed to make it to the entrance to the lower levels of Library island Thane looked the archway up and down, the sheer amount of detail leaving him nodding his head in approval of the formation,

"Well… whoever built the place had some good taste in architecture if nothing else…"

As he examined the arch-way, he suddenly noticed a large plaque attached off to the side and titled his head in mild confusion. Thane quickly paced over to it and read it out loud to himself,

"_items that are an absolute must in the lower levels. Grappling hook, Magnetic and non. Rations. Water proof clothing and flashlight. Air tight and waterproof backpack. One Library exploration emergency kit containing several flares, compass, Venom kit, and first aid. One machete…_ wait… a Machete? The hell is down there? Eh… better keep reading just in case…"

Thane ran his eyes over the list for a few more seconds, even stopping once when the word _'flamethrower'_ showed up

"Da heck? Why would you use a flamethrower in a place full of _flammable paper?! _Makes no sense!"

After thoroughly reading the checklist, Thane shrugged his shoulders and simply sighed, "As much as the students know what they are talking about, I don't have the time to worry about all of this stuff… Plus, I'm a well-known adventurer in my own right! I've completed the tower of Darjel by myself! One measly little library can't compare to the horrors that I found in there! Onward I say! Checklist be damned!"

Thane quickly descended the stairs, leaving Akira to slowly follow before she stopped and looked at the Library expedition checklist herself.

She felt a sigh escape her lips as she resumed her stalking "I only hope this doesn't get us killed…"

**Xx Sometime later xX**

"MOTHER OF THE GODS!-!-! WHATEVER GOD'S ON DUTY RIGHT NOW SAVE M-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E!-!-!-!-!"

Thane quickly jumped in between a large towering book shelf, causing the great rolling boulder precariously close to his heels to slam into the case with a resounding crack and boom.

Thane lay there for a moment, the events of running for his dear life flashing across his mind as he desperately dragged air into his lungs.

After a few more minutes of this, he quickly dragged himself to his feet; dusting himself off as he grumbled under his breath

"this is frikking nuts… Giant _boulders_?! First the arrow traps… not so bad, kinda was expecting those, then the Pitfall trap's, that was kinda Ok… Then it started to get into the _needle traps! _A little extreme… But the _**phucking flame traps?!**_ Plain overkill right there! How is someone not dead yet?! Add the Boulder traps and you have yourself one hell of an overdone cliché! And I ain't even to the Mysticism section yet!-!"

Some space back, Akira was also huffing to herself.

She, Like Thane, had also been encountering traps, but thankfully, it had been the aftermath of what Thane had already triggered.

Mostly, her weariness was due to trying to keep up with him, especially with this boulder trap; Unlike Thane, she had to run to _keep up_.

After a few more minutes of regaining there strength, Both Akira and Thane set back on their way, one following the other of course.

After a little while, Thane started to have a new appreciation for what the Library exploration Club did.

Not only was this Library littered with traps and pitfalls that would leave a Dungeon crawler wary, it was also just plain _huge_.

Like, Whale Gigantic and beyond! Another point, if not a strange one, was that the Underground Library had a freaking _jungle_ growing under it! The mount of Plant foliage and hanging vines left him wishing that he had indeed grabbed a Machete.

The giant Coliseum made from Greek Text books being the second most interesting thing he had seen. He could only conclude that someone down here had too much free time on their hands.

But the forest was his most pressing concern right now.

Often times, he would have to direct magic into his hands to cut down the plants and other such strange things growing around.

He had almost run into a giant Spider web even. Not wanting to meet the Spider that owned that web, Thane had beat a hasty retreat when he found that one.

After what had to have been another hour of traveling and looking at the map, Thane had eventually had to stop. Thankfully, he had found a convenient, if not weird, rest spot with a sandwich bar and Drink dispenser.

Akira, who had simply grown even more curious about all the strange things he had been doing, had simply followed behind with almost no difficulty.

She remained out of sight, and while Thane was resting, thought back to all the odd things she had seen him do.

'_What is with all of this? First he comes home looking like he got in a serious fight, then he runs off to who knows where only for it to be at Library Island? And that thing he did with his hands… how did he make them glow? I clearly remember him saying he couldn't read that map well, but he changed his tune when he did that thing… and all the other stuff, the vines, avoiding all those traps… something isn't right… is he even… Human? All this seems way too ridiculous…'_

However, her thoughts quickly vanished when the sound of Thane's boot's roused her from her internal dialogue.

"Welp! Give or take another hour or so and I'll be up and able to find that stupid section! Onward!"

Thane quickly pulled out his map again and examined the area he was in currently, "Now let's see here… according to this thing here… I'm currently in the Botany section… well that explains all the plants then… I need to make my way past the arthropod sections and then lightly skim across the Marine Biology area in order to get to the mysticism section…alright then!"

Thane nodded his head at the route until he notice one small thing in the corner of the section he was in currently. He squinted his eyes at it until he saw what it was.

A small sign: _warning to all students! The botany section is home to some dangerous and yet to be studied book blooms. The coloring is bright red with a bright green pistil. The flower gives off a very pleasing scent to Female's. Men are not so affected. Take caution! However, should conflict arise with this flower, flames have been proven to drive it away. Make sure you are carrying your Library Exploration Standard Flamethrower with you at all times!: _

Thane blinked his eyes blankly before he simply shrugged his shoulders, "Odd… Giant man eating flowers… odd indeed… Good thing I ain't a woman then!"

However, Unlike Thane, who now had ample warning to said Blooming terror, Akira was simply confused by his strange proclamation,

"what is he on about?"

However, before she could even inquire into it further, Akira started to notice a… very nice scent. She couldn't help but tilt her head up and get a better sniff of this strange smell,

"***Sniff* *Sniff*** what… is that? It smells nice… Kinda like the sea… where is it coming from?"

Akira, her thought's starting to be more drawn to the smell, got up and let her feet start to direct her. What felt like an eternity of searching, and the smell only getting more enticing as she looked, she finally found the core of the sea breeze.

She turned down a row of books and a large dead-end in the shape of one of the largest Flowers she had ever seen. The thing had to have a diameter of over 12 feet across, each of its eight petals as big as she was tall. And standing up in the very center was a three foot tall Pistil deep emerald green and a small flower of its own, opening and closing; releasing small wafts of yellow and what appeared to be giving off the nice scent.

Akira's mind was currently very muddled at the moment, her eyes starting to slightly glaze over and a pleasant grin on her face,

"How… pretty…"

However, her inner mind was working overtime, trying to bypass the effects of the pleasure inducing spores that fogged her mind

'_very… nice smell, but… wasn't I…? What was I doing before this? I think… following something? Or… someone… but… to nice… can't… remember…'_

Akira took a few more steps forward, the sound of shuffling leafs and the shadow of looming vines creeping up on her lost on her addled mind.

Meanwhile, Thane was busy packing his bag with as many of the little sandwiches that he could, "Who knows how much longer I'm going to be down here… might as well as stock up on as much as possible… though the actual presence of a snack stand in the middle of this labyrinth of a Library is kinda odd… Oh well! No skin off my-"

That thought was interrupted by the sound of a very loud ***Snap!* **

Thane quickly rounded his head, his ponytail whipping around at the speed,

"'_snap'_? Snap is never a good noise"

Thane listened closely, trying to see if he could hear another such noise. Thankfully. It didn't do it again, but much to his discomfort, it had sounded very close.

"Eh… wonder if it's one of those things that the map was talking about… Book blooms they called em? Um…not my problem! Might as well as get… ***Sniff*** … huh… that smells sweet… Kinda like… Lemon pie?"

Thane stopped what he was doing and turned around a few times, finding the smell to be enticing, but not drug inducing,

"Huh… this must be that pleasant smell that it was talking about earlier… then that means that one of those book blooms are close by…"

Thane started to scratch his chin, some thoughts starting to come together,

'_I'm not sure… but maybe the two are related? Well, the only way to find out is to go and check it out… god's my curiosity can be such a pain sometimes' _

Thane simply shook his head at his internal thoughts. Despite the fact that it was something of a problem for his time, leaving this thing alone might bring trouble down the line, and he knew it.

So, best to take care of it now rather than when someone got hurt; or worse, dead.

Thane, using his nose, walked around trying to find the source; carful to mind his steps and not step on any vines and trip himself up. He was like this for a few minutes, somewhat aimlessly walking around trying to find a plant by smell alone when he suddenly felt himself getting closer.

Not due to a feeling, but due to the intensity of the smell in the air.

Thane took another whiff before he smiled to himself, "Alright! Must be close then! Probably right around this-"

Just as he took the action he was just about to mention, Thane quickly came to a dead stop.

Standing in front of him at nearly 12 feet tall was a closed flower of the deepest red he had ever seen, the base covered in jade green vines that where only slightly moving from the fact that a tiny Pistil was spouting out of the top of the flower blowing out small puffs of sweet scented pollen.

That was the second thing he noticed, and only briefly for that fact.

The first and foremost thing that assaulted his eyes was blinding white. Not light mind you, but the brilliant white of young covered maidenhood.

It wasn't anything overly sexy in his mind, but that stark contrast of the white against the dark of the area made it seem as if it was the blinding rays of the sun itself.

However, it wasn't plain, oh not by a long shot.

The complex pattern of the flowery designs (was it flowers? He really couldn't tell from that distance) lined itself along the elastic with such small minute detail, that one would think that a master panty maker had spent a good deal of time on it.

It certainly had coverage, but that was just the basics of it.

It was the tightness of the elastic that drew Thane's eyes to this perfect posterior.

Like most close fitting article of clothing, the panties where tight, and lightly dug into the young flesh of the young female that it happened to be attached to.

But the dazzling white brilliance of the rear in front of him almost made him get down on his knees and worship the one in a million chance to see such a marvelous sight.

It was a posterior of perfect proportions.

An ass of astounding attributes.

A rear of…

Thane quickly shook his head, a small part of him dying on the inside for not continuing the feats of the eyes

'_what the hell am I even thinking about?! Someone is in trouble!'_

Thane quickly ran forward and grabbed the legs of the person who was stuck tight in the petals. He tried tugging viciously, but it wasn't going over well, he wasn't budging them an inch.

Thane, not sure what to do in this situation, did the first thing that came to mind, and that was to shower the Bloom in _violence_.

Snatching a book off the shelf, a rather heavy dictionary about Magi botany, He started to hammer the petals of the flower with it.

All he was getting where hard smacks and no response from the plant.

Thane quickly threw it away and took a few steps back, "Spit it out ya big pile of Fertilizer!"

Thane pointed three fingers at the Plant and shouted out with anger {_"Ignis Magi: Draco lingua!"} _(Fire Magic: Dragon tongue)

A long stream of Bright orange flame blasted out from his finger tips with a mighty roar. That got the Plants attention.

Quick as a flash, the petals opened up, letting its contents spill out along with what could only be considered digestive juices.

Much to Thane's confusion, the plant started to crawl along the vines to get away from the orange flames. Thane cut off the magic power to the spell and watched as the Plant fled up into the higher book shelves until it had disappeared.

Thane observed the spot for a few seconds longer, making sure that it had gone a good distance before he brought his attention back to the person lying on the ground.

The pale youth quickly knelt down and turned the person over, feeling worried that he might have been too late.

"Hey! Are you ok? He-"

He shut up when he saw who it was, and it quickly sent his alarms sky High

"Akira!? Hey! Snap out of it! Are you ok!?"

He quickly started to check and see if she was alright, wiping as much of the wet goo away from her body as possible so that it didn't start burning her.

Thane ran his hand over her mouth to check and see if she was still breathing, thankfully she was and her heart was also in working order. All in all, she was just unconscious.

Thane breathed out a sigh of relief, but his thoughts quickly turned to panic,

'_I'm glad she's ok, but what is she doing down here for!? She doesn't look ready to be down here at all!'_

Thane could only shake his head as he picked her up bridal style, "Guess I better get her somewhere more comfortable…"

However, before he made his way back, Thane took one more glance back at the spot the plant had been staying and blinked in surprise when he saw what was there

"…You have got to be kidding me…"

There, on the shelf where the plant had made its home was a book titled,

**:Vampires and Blood Magic. Spells and curses that effect Vampires and the blood magic necessary for it:**

A thought briefly flashed across his mind that sounded a lot like a Victory them from the seventh game from a certain Fantasy series.

He quickly shook it away and grabbed the book, "well… guess I got what I came here for… just need to wait for Akira to wake up then"

Thane marched toward the rest area, his arms growing tired from carrying the swimmer until he actually got there.

He quickly made a place for her and set her down, sitting next to the Unconscious girl. From then on it was a waiting game.

Thane simply started flipping through the pages of his new book, Thoughts of completing Eva's seal problem coming into his mind. But even after reading over the entire book and taking several key notes he thought might be useful, he found himself drawing his attention to his dorm mate.

She looked peaceful from what he could see; the steady rise and fall of her chest showing many indicators of this. Her hair, though rather messy from the mess earlier, looked very pretty strewn this way and that across her face and on the ground. It was then that he noticed that her hairband had apparently been lost in the scuffle, because it wasn't in its normal ponytail.

Thane felt hot blood rush to his face, causing his face to blush madly.

He quickly turned away from her and went back to reading.

Thankfully, he only had to wait a few more minutes before Akira started to rouse herself. She slowly opened her eyes, a slight pain in her lower body as she inhaled, "Ugh…wh…where am I?"

Thane glanced over, a sigh of relief escaping his lips at the fact that she seemed ok.

"Library Island. Botany section, rest stop number 224-D from the looks of it"

Akira blinked a few times in confusion before she quickly recognized the voice. Akira shot up into a sitting position and turned to face Thane, who was giving her a smile,

"Hey there Akira, I know you just woke up, but you mind explaining what you're doing down here without a guide?"

The swimmer was way too stunned to form words right now and could only get out a, "Huh?"

Thane turned toward her, some anger in his eyes, "I want to know why your down here by yourself! You could have been hurt down here and nobody would have known it!"

Akira felt herself breathe out in relief inside.

He hadn't discovered that she had been following, but instead of shrinking away and answering, she started to get somewhat angry herself

"Me? What was I doing down here? I could ask the same of you! What are you doing down here Thane? What if you got hurt? Then no one would know about it! Yuna and I Included!"

Thane blanched from her words, but quickly felt his temper increasing again, "Unlike you or Yuna, I can handle myself in dangerous situations! You coming down here by yourself for gods know what is just stupid!"

Akira felt her face flush in anger at his words, they were somewhat true, but the fact that he was calling her weak was making her angry, "I wasn't down here for myself you know! I was down here for an important reason!"

"What could possibly have been so important that you simply couldn't have waited for a Library exploration Member to help you"

"Making sure you're alright!-!-!"

Akira had literally shot up to her feet in anger at the last word,

"Just this morning you Lie to me and Yuna about what really happened last night and then you come down here for god only knows what and keep it from us!-! What in the world is so important that you have to keep it a secret from your friends huh!-?"

Thane flinched at her words.

He had no comeback for that and simply turned away from her, a slight stirring rising in his chest.

'_I am your blade brother! What do you hide from me! There are no secrets between us Thane! Have we not been through blood and battle together!? Why do you push me away!'_

Thane could only bite his lower lip in anger and shame. A memory from days long past bringing painful scares to bear.

"I'm… sorry…I don't mean to hide things from you and Yuna… it's just… I have reasons for doing things. I have some things I simply can't tell you about right now…"

Akira, who had been expecting a much more aggressive comeback, was very surprised at his subdued nature.

Thane quickly looked back up at her, some steel in his eyes, "But you're right, I shouldn't try to hide things from you or Yuna. You are my friends and I don't want to try pushing you away"

Now it was Akira who was left without a response, her mouth doing a good impression of a goldfish for a moment.

The both of them simply sat there and stared at each other for a few more seconds before Akira let a smile cross her face, "alright then… I'll take your word for it Thane… and… sorry for following you down here"

The older male simply shook his head at her apology, "It's alright. If I had been just a little more truthful with you both, it wouldn't have happened in the first place. But, since I have the book I needed, how about we focus on trying to get out of here eh?"

Akira nodded her head, wanting to get out of the lower levels of Library Island as quickly as possible

"Agreed"

**Xx Outside xX**

Despite the scolding he got From Yue and the ominous reminder from Haruna, Thane had managed to get what he needed from Library Island.

He momentarily thought he saw a _:Quest complete, 337 EXP awarded: _Across his vision, but then he simply shook it off as nerves.

Thankfully, despite being just a little unsteady on her feet, Akira was doing well and Thane was helping to escort her back to the dorm rooms. After making their way to the park, Akira had felt just a little dizzy and had requested to sit down for a little while.

"Probably something to do with the spores you breathed in from that plant. Here, let me go and get you something to drink, it Might help you out"

Akira simply nodded her head, feeling just a little too tired to answer him.

Thane quickly started to wander around in search of one of the many vending machines that littered the park. It didn't take very long, thank goodness; and it was even close to where he had set Akira down.

However, there were already two people standing in front of it, one simply standing there stoically, and the other kicking the machine with a savage gusto.

"COME ON YOU PHUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! GIMME MY MONEY ALREADY! OR AT LEAST THE FLOUNDER SODA! PIECE OF SHIT!"

The guy took a few steps back and round housed the thing with his right hand so hard that Thane was sure he was going to put a hole in the machine. However, it looked like the machine had won that round, only sustaining enough damage to dent it.

"Settle down Keima… you might disturb others…"

"LIKE I GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT THAT! I WANT MY MONEY BACK!"

Thane could only shake his head at the violent youth.

'_like shouting is going to help you… people get so bent out of shape easily'_

However; Thane quickly took notice that one of the voices had sounded very familiar. Taking a closer look, he quickly guessed that he was right.

"Juno? Juno Nagase? Is that you?"

The taller of the two males turned his head, if he was surprised from the visit from someone he knew, Thane wasn't sure, the ski cap simply obscuring his eyes. But the smile he gave him told him that Juno had recognized him,

"Ah… Thane-san. Thank you for finding Aina last night"

The other fellow turned his attention to what his friend was talking about, "Oi, Juno, this the guy you were talking about?"

"Yes Keima. He helped me find Aina last night"

"And I told you to put that damned dog on a leash already! You wouldn't bother people otherwise and It wouldn't run away if you kept a better hold of it!"

Thane brought his hand to his mouth and coughed loudly

"***cough!*** Sorry to interrupt Juno-san, but who's your friend?"

At the word 'friend' the other guy snarled, "We ain't buddies, so watch it"

Juno, however, smiled. "This guy is my best friend Keima Shisai. He can be a little mean, but he's nice on the inside"

"Oi! I ain't your friend! And who you calling nice!? I'm the meanest sonuvabitch to walk Mahora!"

Despite the bravado, Thane could see a little blush on his face. From what Thane could also see, Keima was shorter then Juno was, but about the same height as Thane himself. Oddly enough, he had what looked to be very clean white hair that he had cut pretty short, but weather it was bleached or not remained to be seen. He also was wearing the standard Mahora male uniform, but he had added his own flair to it by cutting it up in a few places and leaving it opened and untucked. Thane could see he was going for a punk look; he even had the face for it.

But the thing that Caught Thane's attention was his right arm. The sleeve had been cut completely off, but the arm had been completely wrapped in leather bindings and belts. How he was even able to move his fingers was a mystery, but Thane scrunched his eyes up in concentration when he felt that something was… off about it.

Keima, not getting anything out of Juno, noticed that Thane was staring at him, or more importantly, his right arm. He let a wicked smile cross his face and stretched it out for him to see,

"Impressed? This is the arm that beat down over 49 of the strongest people on Campus. The _'Devils striking right'_ I never miss with it and people never see it coming."

Thane tilted his head, not at the title, he thought it sounded silly, but at the number,

"49? What happened to 50? Or is there just not that many people that are that strong?"

Keima quickly shut up, his already sour face becoming even more so. Juno, however, let his mouth do the talking

"He's only at 49 because he can't beat number fifty. She's too strong for him right now"

Faster then he thought was possible, Thane watched as Keima tried to round house Juno with a hard right.

However, Juno had only barely moved out of the way, the bridge of his nose slightly smoking from the jab

"Keep your mouth shut you bastard!-! He ain't asking for a loss record!-!"

Despite the savageness of the blow, Thane couldn't help but smile at the both of them, "Huh… so who do you keep losing to?"

"Ain't your business!-!-!/ Chairmen Ku Fei of the Chinese martial arts"

Keima was now blushing heavily and threw a few more jabs at Juno, who simply dodged each of them.

Thane was finding the little display funny, but found the one person he couldn't beat more surprising than anything,

"Ku Fei? She can fight?"

Keima stopped trying to hit Juno and glared at Thane like a traditional punk

"Of course she can! She's got to be the strongest person on Campus! And one day I'll take that title! Just you watch!"

Not even giving them a chance to talk, Keima stormed off, punching the Vending machine one last time and getting the drink that fell out of it.

Juno simply smiled at him as he walked away and turned his attention back to Thane,

"Sorry about him, he can be shy at times"

"You call that shy? I hate to see him when he gets angry then"

Juno didn't answer, but simply smiled, "Despite his attitude, I would like it if you also became his friend Thane-san. Other than me, He doesn't have any"

Thane felt just a little nervousness well up in his chest at the prospect,

'_I don't think I could survive being his friend…'_

Despite the thought's, Thane nodded his head.

"Sure, I don't mind"

Juno gave him another smile and brought out his phone,

"Here, let me give you our numbers then… friends do that right? Keima told me he only wanted my number so that he could fight with me, but I think he was lying"

Thane started to giggle, "Yeah, friends exchange numbers. Here's mine, give it to Keima-kun for me alright?"

Juno flipped his phone closed and nodded,

"Will do. Thanks Thane-san. Give us a call if you need anything"

Thane waved the tall youth off, smiling to himself as he did,

'_Keima and Juno huh… they sound like they would be fun to hang out with' _

The sound of another can falling quickly jolted Thane out of his thoughts and on to the reason he was here in the first place.

Thane quickly got the drinks he thought Akira would like and hurried back.

**Xx The next day xX**

Thane quickly moved his head to the side, just barely avoiding the wooden stick as it sailed over. However, his attention was quickly brought back to the person holding it.

Setsuna quickly brought her left leg up in a kick, using the momentum from the swing to get Thane in the side.

Thane quickly brought his own blade to bear, striking at Setsuna's lower body.

The swordswoman twisted her sword and blocked the blow, but she had to cancel the kick in order to have the force to do it.

Thane let go of his own blade and swung his fist at her, a move that was unexpected, but easily countered.

She brought her sword back and made a thrust, intending on striking him in the chest.

Thane, having a sudden moment of clarity and remembrance, twisted his body, a grin appearing on his face, much to the surprise of Setsuna.

Thane quickly backhanded her in the head, sending her to the ground.

Thane stood over her for a moment, his breath coming hard and heavy as the realization started to hit home,

"I… I won?... I WON! For the first time since we even started doing this I won! WOO HOO!"

Setsuna, still seeing stars, quickly shook her head and stood back up, a proud smile on her face, "That was amazing Thane-san! How did you know what I would do next?"

Thane looked over at the swordswoman and sheepishly grinned at her,

"well… if you really must know, that move looked very similar to one a friend of mine would do when he was training me"

Setsuna, still somewhat smarting from the blow to her head, sat up in the usual Seiza position and laid her blade at her knees,

"Really? What kind of move was it?"

Thane, also feeling the effects of the fight that he just (narrowly) won, sat down next to her and stretched his legs out to sooth them,

"Like I said, it was similar. Normally when I would draw in close, he would go for a lower body thrust like you do, but he would always telegraph it in his shoulder movements. He isn't aware of it, but I always take advantage of it when he does. It always confused him when I did get him like that"

Setsuna was now slightly curious, "when you say that he used a similar move, did you mean he was a Shinme Ryu swordsman?"

Thane looked her up and down for a second with an amused smile, "I don't think he knows that style considering that he isn't part of this world"

Setsuna blinked in confusion for a moment before she remembered Thane's origin's, letting a blush cross her face from the slip,

"Sorry… I forgot that you're not from here…"

Thane giggled to himself before he waved her concern away,

"it's alright. Even _I'm_ starting to have trouble remembering my home. Getting the chance to explain about it and its inhabitants lets me remember them. But in answer to your question, he didn't use this Shinme School you're talking about. However, he did learn many eastern styles of sword fighting. That's why it looked so familiar to me"

Setsuna blinked a few times in some disbelief, "several different Styles? I can barely use my own abilities, I can't possibly imagine trying to learn several at the same time"

"Not to be rude Setsuna-san so please don't take it the wrong way, but trying to compare you to Him is like trying to compare a butter knife with an Aurum Ash Blade. One will always lose"

Setsuna, despite the fact that she was just called inferior by every definition, couldn't help but be disbelieving in the words he spoke,

"I find that hard to believe. I know at best that I'm just an intermediate, but there aren't that may who could beat me without resorting to trickery"

Thane simply smiled at her, "That's alright, I know you wouldn't believe me based on my words alone. But believe me when I say that he is beyond strong. He stands as the commander of the largest military force in the world at only the young age of 18 in your world. He's defeated dragons with a swipe of his sword and beaten back some of the strongest of Titans! He also holds the credit of retaking the Bridge of Azutel from the forces of the gray and defeating Gumbal the Kingslayer, one of the nine champions of the Gray, By Himself!"

The more Thane explained, the more Setsuna watched as his eyes started to light up in pride.

Setsuna found it rare for Thane to show such emotion in anything, and felt herself start to get pulled into his pace, "If he is so strong, would you mind telling me his name?"

Thane puffed his chest out in pride, "Of course! His name is Oswald! Oswald Shevran! The eighth Sword Saint in Estorian History and My Blade Brother in arms of the Thalamear army!"

Setsuna found his beaming smile to be both refreshing and somewhat cute, even going so far as to smile herself,

"really? He sounds amazing then. But if you don't mind my asking, what is a blade brother?"

Thane blinked a few times, as if she just asked a very stupid question, but quickly remembered that this wasn't Estoria,

"Ahhh… Sorry bout that… A Blade Brother is someone who is paired up with a mage when a Knight-in-training and a Mage-in-training leave the academy. For the Knight, the mage is normally called a Mage Bond. Normally it's determined by lots, but in mine and Oswald's case, it was a little more special. But that's beside the point, the point is, Oswald is a man whom I respect and consider my closest friend! He and I have been through Hell and High water and more than one pissed off Fairy together!"

Thane suddenly jolted out of his exuberance and quickly took notice of the clock, "Ah! Sorry Setsuna! Here I am wasting our training time together about my home! Sorry about that"

This time, It was Setsuna's turn to wave Thane's concern away, "It's alright Thane-san. I don't mind, as a matter of fact, how about we take the rest of the morning off since you beat me? Consider it a reward for a job well done in coming this far. I want to hear more about your friend."

Thane felt a huge grin cross his face at the prospect. Making himself more comfortable, Thane started to recount more tales of Him and Oswald together.

**Xx Some time later xX**

"And-And Then!-!… ***pffft* **Ga ha ha! Oswald fell face first into the circle! That was the biggest explosion that Old man Burgs had ever seen in his life! And when Oswald came out of it, he looked as black as the armor he wore! Ha ha ha ha!"

Thane was busy slapping his knee in hearty guff's as he stopped to catch his breath.

Setsuna, one who wasn't known for her laughter, raised her hand to her mouth to quite the laugh that would have escaped,

"Oh my… Ha ha… and you pushed him into it?"

"Ha! Let's just say I was getting him back for an earlier prank he pulled on me…"

Despite the fact that the both of them had been training that morning, Thane had suggested that they make their way home since training was over for the day.

But it wasn't a boring walk home, No; Thane had decided to tell as many stories as he could about Oswald. And Setsuna got an earful of them to. She had found that she was somewhat coming to like this Oswald, feeling that she would like to meet him at least once in her life.

The both of them went on with stories for a little bit longer before the dorm they called home made itself visible

"Ah… were here Thane-san"

Thane looked to the dorm with some slight annoyance, "aww… I didn't get to tell you of the time Oswald got so drunk that he got in a fight with a Dragon roast, and Lost!"

Setsuna had to tilt her eyebrows at that one, "Lost? To a piece of cooked meat?"

Thane slightly huffed at her indignantly, "Hey! It was a good roast! I cooked it myself!"

Setsuna simply shook her head in amusement as she walked in front of him, "You'll have to tell me about it later, for now, I have to go. Good bye Thane-san"

Thane waved her off as she went into the dorms first.

It had been there agreement, when they would get close to the dorm, one would enter first so as not to cause a misunderstanding with everybody else.

Thane had found the idea silly at first, but when Haruna had started to spread rumors about them going out, he quickly agreed to the plan.

Thane counted out the traditional 40 seconds before he himself also entered the dorms. Much to his surprise, Asuna was also in the front lobby, though she was getting the mail and only noticed him when the door had closed.

Thane waved his hand at her and smiled, "Sup Asuna!"

The red head gave him an annoyed look and lightly shook her head, "You're not going to let me live that down are you?"

"Awwww! Come on! I don't mind! It was pretty funny!"

Asuna simply shook her head again and started to go through her mail.

Thane, feeling rather chipper, decided to stick around and talk with her for a moment, "Soooo… you win anything?"

"Not from what I can see… just an ad for the local Starbucks… oh, a sale on eggs… Gonna have to mention that one to Konoka… and… the heck is this?"

Thane peeked over her shoulder, glancing down at what he thought was an overly colored envelope, "Not sure, maybe an invitation to a party?"

Asuna held it up to the light and squinted her eyes, as if doing so would help her out, "Not sure, but I sure as hell can't read it…"

Thane quickly snatched it out of her hands and looked it over before he shrugged his shoulders, "Well no wonder you can't. It's in English… it's addressed to Negi from… the Mage Academy?"

"What?!"

Asuna snatched the letter from him and stared down at it in some anger, "Those idiots! You'd think they wouldn't put their own name on it or something! Or not use such odd envelopes!"

Thane only shrugged his shoulders at her suggestion, "Hey, I ain't in charge of it. But you might want to get that to Negi as quickly as possible, it might be important"

"Yeah… your right…"

Asuna nodded her head a few times before she walked off, not even bothering to say bye to Thane.

Thane, for his part, decided to follow her.

After the second flight of stairs, Asuna quickly rounded on him, "Why are you following me!?"

Thane held his hand's up in an attempt to deflect her anger, "Hey! My rooms on the same floor remember? Plus, I wanna know what it is"

"Ya ever heard of Privacy? It probably has nothing to do with you"

Thane simply shook his head, "So? Still wanna know"

Asuna could only roll her eyes at him and simply went back to walking, trying to ignore him as much as possible.

Thane, however, did not like being ignored.

So he decided to change that.

"So Asuna-san… how has life been with Negi boy?"

Asuna could only flinch at those words, "a living hell for me… The baby brat always _always_ sneaks into my bed! And only because I vaguely resemble his sister or something! You'd think that after 6 years old he'd stop doing something so stupid!"

"Aww… I find that kinda cute, but don't be so hard on him. Some people tend to have some issues with sleeping by themselves."

"You speaking from experience?"

It had meant to be a snarky reply, but much to Asuna's surprise, Thane simply laughed, "Ha ha! Actually, yes I do! You might find it hard to believe, but I didn't stop sleeping by myself until I was 12 years old!"

Asuna actually did a double take, "_12!?_ What are you, a chicken?!"

"Kinda, yeah. I was a big scaredy cat when I was little, everything would scare me! From frogs to dragonflies! But oddly enough, I wasn't afraid of the dark. I was simply scared of being alone"

Asuna tilted her head at the new info, her will to ignore him now gone.

"Why?"

Thane opened his mouth for a second, but quickly closed it,

"Huh… um… that's kinda a personal reason. Sorry but I don't want to tell you… by the? We just passed your room"

Asuna stopped in her tracks, and then turned around to see that her room was a few doors down.

"If you noticed, why didn't you say anything earlier!-!"

Thane's only response was a simple shrug of the shoulders.

Asuna simply pushed past him and quickly opening the door, making all persons within very aware of her, "I'm Home! Hey Negi!"

Thane peeked around the corner and saw Negi, who had apparently being vacuuming, trip over the power cord in surprise from Asuna's sudden intro and yelled out

"**I'M SORRY I THOUGHT THAT!" **

Asuna tilted her eyebrow in some mild confusion at his sudden surprise and simply crossed her arms,

"What's _your_ problem?"

Much to Thane's amusement, Negi started to flaphis arms in haste, "Uh! Nothing! I'm fine! Is something wrong?"

Thane moved from behind the door way and waved at the boy mage, "Yo Negi, and I would suppose something would be wrong, considering that the mages of this world have never heard of discretion before"

Asuna quickly held up the letter to Negi's face, pointing at the address, "This! See? Airmail form England! It even says 'Magicians academy' on it!"

Asuna shoved the letter into Negi's hands and continued on her rant, "Seriously! If you want to keep your magical connections under wraps then you guys need more subtle envelops!"

Thane nodded his head at the twin-tail's suggestion, "Amen to that. Now what does it say?"

Asuna rolled her eyes while Negi simply turned the letter over in his hands a few times,

"Not sure… Guess I'll find out in a second"

Both Asuna and Thane crowded around Negi, trying to what the contents of the letter said.

However, when Negi opened it and flipped the letter into a reading position, a small 3-D figure appeared on the paper.

From What Thane could see, she was tall, had bright long blond hair, bright blue eyes and had one of the cheeriest smiles he had ever seen. He felt his heart flutter for a moment before the Picture started to talk

"_Hello Negi! It's been a while! How have you been holding up dear?"_

The welsh boys face lit up in recognition from the small person, "Hey! It's a magical letter from my sister!"

Thane nodded his head while Asuna, who had only been caught up in the more Violent forms Magic, was very surprised to see this type of magic,

"Woah! Look at that! It's like a mini Hologram or something! That's mages for ya…"

Thane was also nodding his head at the picture, "Hey… this is pretty cool… Normally we use Crystal balls and other stuff to communicate, but magical letters are a pretty new thing for us… By the way Negi, your sister looks Hot. Think I could get her to go on a date with me?"

Both Asuna and Negi looked over at Thane with as much annoyance on their face's as could be had in such a moment, which was a lot by the way.

Thane held his hand's up as if to defend himself from there glares, "I was only kidding… geez…"

Everybody turned their attention back to the little figure on the paper, her words continuing,

"_I heard that you had finally managed to become a full time teacher! Congratulations! But this is only the start of your training, so be diligent dear"_

Thane found the way that she was trying to mother Negi to be very heart warming, making him think of his own days of taking care of his kids.

The letter continued on about a few more things, something along the lines of how she was doing, how someone by the name of Anya was having it a little tough, but making it work alright.

But it was the next little bit that caught his attention

"_Also… I think I might be being a little hasty here, but have you managed to meet your partner yet? Most mages and partners tend to attract each other, so he or she might be someone very close to you… *Giggle* I hope that whoever it is will be a lovely person!"_

Both Thane and Asuna looked at each other, mouthing out the same word at the same time,

"Partner?"

Negi however, was busy rewinding the message while chuckling nervously to himself,

"Come on sis… My partner? It's a little early for that don't you think?"

However, before he could do anything else, Both Asuna and Thane put the boy in a head lock, the both of them grinning mischievously, "Ho ho! What's this thing about a partner Negi boy? You've been holding out on us!"

Asuna started to knuckle the struggling youth in the temple, her own tone the same as Thane's,

"Who is she? A lover? Your Fiancé? Is she here in Japan? Precocious ain't even the half of it!"

Negi Finally managed to worm his way out of there double headlock, setting his hair back straight from where the both of them were messing with it, "Come on you two! It's nothing like that!"

Thane tilted his head in some mild confusion, "Oh? Then what is it?"

Negi cleared his throat and started to go into explanation, trying to remember as much of the old tales as he could,

"In order for me to explain that, I'm going to need to tell you a little bit of a story… Now, it's a story that pretty much any mage worth his salt can recite from heart. It's a tale about a Very powerful mage, the very savior of the world and her protector, the Courageous Knight. Now in accordance with that very same story, Mages who seek to go out into the world to Work normally end up finding one who can help and protect them from the things that would normally mean them harm. This person, for lack of a better term, would be considered the Mages Mate, or there Minister Magi. In fact, one can't even be considered a master mage if they don't have one"

Thane started nodding his head while holding his chin sagely, "Ahhhhh… so it's a buddy system then?"

"In laymen's terms, Yeah I guess"

Asuna also started to stroke her chin, but more in curiosity, "Partner huh… is it always a male/female pairing then?"

Negi tilted his head this way and that before he started to scratch his head sheepishly, "Well… yeah, pretty much. Male mages get Female Partners and Vice versa. As a matter of fact, it's almost a trend now and days for said partners to wind up getting married to each other"

Both Asuna and Thane looked to each other while smiling and quickly reached over and started to pinch Negi's cheeks,

"Oh ho! So we were right the first time!"

"It is a Lover then! Oh Negi boy you lady killer you!"

"Ehhhh? So Negi-kun's real Objective in coming to Japan was to find a girlfriend? Well our class alone give's you over 30 girls to choose from"

Negi started to scratch his head again, "Like I was saying… it's nothing like that"

However, while Negi was busy shrugging off the misunderstanding, Asuna and Thane turned their heads like clunky robots at the voice behind them, dread slowly creeping its way up there spines.

Negi quickly noticed that the voice wasn't one that had been in the room previously, and just like the other two, skid back in surprise from the sight of a chocolate haired girl

"Wah! Konoka-san!-!"

"Where the** hell** do you people keep popping up from!-?"

"Ko-Konoka!? How long have you been listing!?"

Konoka Simply titled her head cutely at the three's reaction,

"Somewhere from around the part about finding Partners. What's in the letter?"

Negi quickly started to tuck it in his shirt while Asuna and Thane moved in front of him to prevent Konoka from getting a better view, "N-Nothing! Absolutely Nothing!"

Konoka, however, felt a mischievous streak start to form in her spine from the supposed secret and quickly turned around and started hollering out the door

"**Hey everybody! Negi-kun came to Japan to find a girlfriend!" **

All three of them quickly lunged at her,

"Konoka!-!-!"

"That's not true! I really came to be a teacher!"

"**Lies! All Lies!"**

Konoka, for her part, turned around and gave them the apology sign,

"Take it easy you three, I was only joking. By the way, Asuna, I'm heading off, Grandpa wanted to see me"

Asuna let out a sigh in relief, but quickly turned it into one of annoyance, "Is it about 'you know what' again?"

"Maybe, but I'll see you all later"

And like that, she had her shoes on and was out the door.

As the three of them waved her off, Negi turned to Asuna for some kind of clarification of the situation, "what's 'you know what'?"

Asuna simply waved off his question, "Nothing. But boy did Konoka come out of nowhere"

"Yeah, Thought my secret was out for sure"

Thane nodded his head sagely at the two of them, "yeah, I was afraid I was going to have to snap her neck to keep it from getting out…"

When he turned to look at the other two, he saw the annoyance that was on their faces yet again,

"Jeez! I was only kidding! You two just can **not** take a joke from me today!"

The both of them simply shook their head at him, leaving him feeling slightly annoyed at them both until they went back in the room.

However, on the very opposite side of the door, one girl had her hand's over her mouth for silence and the another with a cup to the door for better listening.

Fuka looked over to her sister, a wide grin invading her lower face,

"You hear all that?"

Fumika nodded her head, her own grin hidden behind her mouth,

"I heard"

"This is gonna be so big… tee he he he he he…"

However, where Fuka expected to hear laughter from her twin, she instead felt a tugging on her sleeve; forcing her to stop her mischief making laugh and see what the copy wanted,

"What Fumika?"

The twin bun girl was facing forward with her other hand pointed out into the hall, her mouth open and making unintelligible noises,

"aw-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa"

Fuka, very confused at this point, turned her head and stared into two dead set blue eyes that would have been making that noise that indicates that your staring but since this doesn't happen in real life, It won't be put in.

"Eh… AGH!-!-! Thane-sensei!-!"

Thane stared down at the other two while slowly closing the door in an almost threatening manner, "It's not nice to eavesdrop you know… how much did you two hear?"

Fuka, being the one who knew how to BS her way out most situations, quickly took the lead and tried to cover up their actions,

"We were-"

Fumika, who was not so adapt at said situations, spilled her guts before he sister could even get a word in,

"Something about Negi-sensei coming to Japan to find a partner!"

The Older copy glared at her sister with a look that said, _'you numb skull!'_

"I see…"

Thane stared the both of them down for a moment, as if to contemplate how best to deal with this situation. After a few more seconds of nervous fidgeting and long staring, Thane let out a sigh,

"Well… it's not that big a deal to me, but this might come back to be a bigger problem than necessary later on, so I would like it if you two forgot what you heard. So, forgive me Fuka and Fumika, But I'm gonna need to do something to you now"

Before Thane could actually do anything, Fuka quickly turned to her sister and gave her a nod

"Quick! Initiate escape plane P!"

Fumika on the other hand, didn't look so thrilled to use that one,

"Does it have to be P? I don't like P… it's Embarrassing…"

"Do you want to get out of this alive or not!?"

Thane had to blink at that one, "Uhhh… I'm not gonna kill ya…"

His words went unnoticed.

"Oh… fine! But you owe me a new pair!"

Before Thane could even ask what in the world they were on about, the two twins moved in a blur, in the next thing he knew, there was something blocking his field of vision via being placed on his face.

The first thing he noticed was the lack of sight.

The next thing was the item on his face.

It was warm, and very soft.

He quickly pulled it off his face and grabbed it between both his hands.

It took him a moment, but he quickly recognized it to be a pair of white and orange stripped panties.

That took his brain a second to process.

"WHAT THE HELL!?"

Before the rhetorical question went unanswered into the silence, Thane quickly noticed that the two twins where running down the halls, Fuka sprinting, and Fumika half running, half skipping while trying to keep her skirt down with both hands.

Fuka turned around and stuck her tongue out at him,

"Ha ha! Plan P was a success! Remember to use that for when you Ma-"

"Fuka!"

"-ate tonight you Lolicon!"

Thane's face quickly went red from both the vulgarity she just used and the fact that she just implied that He relived himself with the thoughts of little girls

"YOU LITTLE HALF PINT! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE SO I CAN SMACK YOU AROUND!AND I AM NOT A LOLICON DAMMIT!"

Before he could take off after them to complete his threat, his brain quickly went through a scenario,

'_wait…chase after two girls that appear to not have hit puberty yet with a pair of panties in my hands while they run away from me will more than likely put me on a one way trip to the slammer…'_

Thane nodded his head at the twin's tactics,

"Touché… well played Fuka... well played…"

Thane watched as they disappeared around the corner, allowing him to bring his attention to the pair of panties in his hands.

From what he could feel, they were still kinda warm, and from that, he could differ that they had belonged to Fumika, mostly because she had been the one running kinda funny. Thane tried to ignore the images that where going in his head of the fact that she was now running down the halls with only her plaid skirt to cover her lower body and started to stretch them a little bit,

"Now what the hell do I do with this?"

with no answer forthcoming, Thane simply shrugged his shoulders and put them in his pocket, going back to the problem with the twins.

'_well… they only heard the little bit about the partner stuff, So I guess it won't be much of a problem… no use in chasing them anyway… Guess I'll hang out with Asuna and Negi then'_

And with That thought done, Thane turned around and went back in the room, not knowing the true horror that would be unleashed form his negligence in less than 15 minutes.

**Xx 15 minutes later xX**

Thane was walking beside Negi, the young welsh boy carrying his staff in both of his hands as he felt a long sigh blow from his lips,

"Man… that was a close one…"

Thane nodded his head in agreement, "yeah, no joke, the way that those girls just pop out of nowhere when you least want them to makes me think that some of them aren't exactly human"

"I think you might be exaggerating it a little, but I can agree with you… good thing she didn't find out either, else I would be busted in more ways than one…"

Thane looked over to his right at the younger boy, some slight curiosity on his features, "How do you mean?"

"Oh, just my grandfather said that if anybody ever found out about my magic, he swore he would be the one to enact the mages punishment on me himself"

The shiver of fear that ran through his spine simply further increased Thane's interest, "and what's the mages punishment?"

Negi looked back up at the older male in slight confusion before he remembered Thane's true origins,

"Oh… right, you're not from around here. Well, if a mage is ever found out, he normally gets placed in temporary confinement and gets turned into an Ermin…but that makes me think, what about your world Thane-san? What happens to mages who get found out in your world?"

Thane could only tilt his eyebrow upward in some amusement, "Nothing, magic isn't kept a secret in my world. Anybody and everybody can use the convenience of magic when the need arises"

Negi blinked a few times in some wonder at that, "really? How do you prevent all the misunderstandings?"

"Ha! I can tell you one thing right now Negi. Estoria is far too rich in magic for people to have any kind of misunderstanding with others; we have spells and other devices that can tell what spell and where it was used if necessary. But our History, unlike yours, has had magic worked into its very foundations. Even the earliest texts from the age from beyond recorder Estorian History state that the old tribes had been using magic to fight battles and heal the sick. So in all honesty, I was very very surprised when I had heard that Magic was kept a secret in this world. I actually got a little angry at first… needless to say, it was a big culture shock"

Negi could understand that. From what he could tell, for Thane, it was like being taken out of a civilized country and being thrown back into the middle ages,

"I can't imagine how you could cope with it…"

Thane smiled down at the boy and ruffled his head, "easy, I cope because you would get in big trouble if I didn't. Can't break my promise to see you through your trials now can I?"

Negi smiled a little at The older youths duty bound spirit, feeling a just a little more motivated into his own work, pumping his fists in renewed vigor,

"Right! I can't let things like partners and other such stuff keep me from my Goal! I'll focus more on my duties as a teacher and worry about finding a partner at a later date!"

Thane raised his own hand in the air at the youth's enthusiasm for his work,

"Right!"

The two males nodded their heads in unison, feeling that they may have bonded in a working spirit.

"**NEGI-SENSEI!"**

Both males stopped there bonding session long enough for the both of them to turn around. And what greeted them was something they were not expecting,

"Please make me your princess Negi-sensei!"

"No! Me! Make your partner Prince Negi!"

Both Thane and Negi felt there jaws drop from the stamped of girls coming at them both,

"Waaaaaaaaah!?"

"OMG WTF!?"

They had booth tried to escape from the large amount of female bodies, but they had very little time to do it in and had been caught unaware, so they really didn't get very far before they had been cornered into a telephone pole and quickly being pestered with questions,

"You said you're looking for a partner right!?"

"Is that a girlfriend!? Fiancé?!"

"When's the royal ball you two?"

"**How the heck should we know!?"**

"Is it true you're a prince Negi-sensei!?"

"That staff is like an imperial scepter right!?"

"Thane-sensei is really your royal advisor right!?"

"Make me your princess!"

Thane, having had enough of not knowing what was going on, quickly started to pull his hair out,

"What the hell are you all on about!?"

That got them nowhere.

However, Thane did see two familiar faces in the crowd and instantly knew where all this mess came from,

'_Fuka and Fumika… I should have hogtied them when I had the chance!' _

"Thane-san! What are we going to do!?"

Unfortunately, Thane did not have an immediate answer to Negi's question, as he was also busy trying to formulate a plan on getting out of there. His answer came to him when he reached into his pocket for some answer and found it there.

Perhaps going for the oldest trick in the book might not have served well when dealing with love crazed girls and their fantasies, but unexpected things tend to leave even the most delirious people in momentary shock.

Thane quickly pulled the item out of his pocket and threw it at the faces of class 2-A,

"LOOK! A Distraction!"

it might not have worked if it hadn't been such an unusual item.

Thane had thrown Fumika's Orange striped panties into the faces of all the girls, leaving nearly everybody momentarily stunned.

Everybody except Thane and Negi that is,

"HAUL ASS NEGI BOY!-!-!"

The two of them quickly took off from a gap that was open on their left and ran like their lives depended on it.

The rest of the girls shook themselves out of the oddity of the situation and noticed the two males getting away,

"Runaway prince and magistrate! After them!"

Thane looked behind him and shouted out at them,

"Couldn't you have been distracted for another two seconds at least!?"

"Wah! This is bad!"

Thane quickly turned his attention front and center and kept pace with the young welsh boy

"You're telling me!"

The girls watched as the both of them quickly rounded the next corner like trained racecar drivers and disappear. The girls simply gave chase and rounded the corner, expecting to see the two males running,

"Prince Negi!"

However, they were surprised when they didn't see either of them back there.

"They're gone!"

"Where did they go?!"

"Search for them!"

As they spread out to look for them on the ground, the two males where looking down from Negi's staff, Negi ridding While Thane was hanging off the tail end with his right hand,

"By the nine, how the heck did this happen!?"

Negi quickly took off in another direction, trying to get as far away from the girls as possible,

"I don't know, but this thing has taken on a life of its own! It's out of control!"

"You ain't kidding! We need a hide out for a while… oh and Negi? Thanks for the save, and sorry about the jumpy start"

The welsh boy looked behind him and nodded his head at the hanging youth,

"No problem, it was all you could do to keep up"

The both of them looked out into the far reaching Campus of Mahora, trying to find someplace that they could use for refuge,

"What about the shopping district?"

Thane shook his head at the suggestion, "No way, they know it better than we do, they would corner us in ten minutes flat"

Negi looked out and then saw one place that he hoped would work, "Ah! What about the school then? It should be empty until the semester starts back tomorrow!"

Thane nodded his head at the idea, the simple brilliance of it leaving him in awe,

"You're a genius! Nobody in their right mind would go to school on the holidays! Well… except for us crazy runaways but that's not the point"

Negi quickly flew his staff in the general direction of the school, only taking a few short minutes to get there.

As soon as they were close enough to it, Negi started to lower their altitude until the both of them could safely jump from the staff without injury.

"Phew… should be safe here…"

"Eh!?"

The sudden sound of surprise caused both males to turn their attention forward and into the school.

From what Thane could see, she was very pretty, dressed up in a bright blue Kimono with white lilies etched into the blue and a pale pink sash keeping it from opening up, her chocolate hair was held in place by two red needle ribbons that gave her a good look,

"You guy's surprised me! Where did you come from?"

Both Thane and Negi for a second time that day had their mouths open in shock.

Negi's thoughts on this subject?

'_Oh great! Now I've done it! I've shown my magic to a complete stranger!-!' _

Thane's thoughts?

'_HOLY FLIPPEN BBQ!-! WE ARE SO BUSTED!-!-!'_

Thankfully, Negi had the presence of mind to try to come up with an excuse for the supposed wingless flight,

"I-I have no idea who you are, but you should know that there's a circus in town!"

Thane, also pretty desperate, tried to help out by throwing his own ideas into the mix, "Yeah! The Dragon circus! Very popular! For pets and children of all ages!"

"Guys! Guys it's me!"

Her words, however, went unnoticed by the duo,

"We're acrobats! It was all an act! Wire work ya know!?"

Thane also started to flap his arms as quickly as Negi,

"Where the famous twin acrobats of the circus, the Heji brothers! I'm the pretty one by the way"

'_might as well as score some points with this chick' _

However, much to their surprise, The girl started to talk in a Kyoto accent, unlike in her proper lady like manner of speech moments before,

"It's me you two! Me!"

The two males stopped for a second, suddenly recognizing the voice for who it was,

"Huh?"

"What? You sound like…"

They looked her up and down a few times before recognition kicked in,

"Konoka-san!"

The girl smiled at them both as she nodded her head,

"Right! Where did you two come from? You just appeared out of nowhere and surprised me! Oh… and Acrobats? Sh'right!"

Negi let out a sigh of relief and started to wave his arms around in an animated fashion,

"So you didn't see… great! Nice Kimono by the way!"

Thane nodded his head in agreement,

"Yeah! Very pretty looking!"

Konoka simply nodded her head at the both of them, the praise received and noted,

"Thanks you guys, but what _are_ you two doing here?"

"Well you see…"

"The thing is…"

Before the both of them could even begin to explain the situation, the sound of several pairs of feet where heard behind them.

At first, Thane thought the girls had already found them, but the sound of several deep male voices removed that fear.

"Konoka-sama!"

"Where did you go Konoka-sama?"

An unlady like "Crap!" escaped from Konoka's mouth as she heard the voices while Thane and Negi simply where confused,

"Who the heck are they?"

Konoka, for her part, grabbed the both of their hands and took off with them in tow,

"Run now! Explain later! Short version? I'm being chased!"

"Actually…"

"So are we! Now let's book it!"

Much to the surprise of Negi and Konoka, Thane picked the both of them up from around the waist and took off up the stairs. After a few more minutes of running, they eventually managed to make their way to the class room where Thane spotted a confused Sayo sitting in her seat.

Thane placed the both of them down and looked out behind him, making sure that they weren't followed,

"alright you two, stay here while I go make sure they didn't follow us ok?"

Negi and Konoka simply nodded their heads at him.

Thane turned around, but not before making eye contact with Sayo and motioned for her to follow. The ghost girl got the message and followed behind Thane, eager for contact and to know what was going on.

After they went down the hallway a good distance, Thane stopped in his tracks and turned his attention to Sayo.

"Hey there Sayo-chan, how have you been?"

The ghost girl nodded her head at him, "Oh… pretty alright I guess… just kinda lonely is all… I haven't had anybody to talk to all of spring break after all…"

She wasn't intending for it, but those words where driving a steak through the heart of the pale youth.

"Oh… I… see… sorry about that… I… didn't mean to ignore you for the week…"

Sayo looked over at her teacher, simply smiling at him, "It's alright Sensei, I know you tend to be very busy"

Thane felt his heart start to die a little more on the inside.

'_I haven't been that busy at all… she's too kind to a fault… it's killing me here…'_

Thane reached out and took her little finger in his hand, a smile coming from his face and a little surprise coming from hers, "well… I still feel a little guilty about leaving you alone for all of spring break. Tell you what, I still have something to do this afternoon, but I would really like it if you accompanied me for the rest of the day, so what do you say?"

The ghost girl blinked in surprise for a few seconds before a small sheen of silver covered her cheeks in embarrassment.

Sayo started to fidget in the air before she gave her reply,

"S-sure! I would like that!"

Thane smiled at her broadly before he nodded his head once, "alright then, let's first make sure that we weren't followed."

Sayo, not sure what he was talking about, simply followed him as he turned around. The both of them walked around the halls of the school in silence, Thane making sure that nobody was there while Sayo simply tagged along with him. However, all that time taken to ensure they hadn't been followed was all for naught as they came back to the state of a very messy classroom filled to the brim with the girls of 2-A and several of the men who were talking with Konoka.

So Thane and Sayo did the smart thing and got out of there before anybody could notice them.

After making their way out of the school building without being seen, Thane and The ghost stood out in front of the gate, the both of them rather quiet. Thane finally had enough of the silence and simply spoke out,

"So Sayo, I know I said that I don't have to be anywhere for a while, but do you perhaps want to go anywhere in particular? I'm kinda drawing up a blank here"

Sayo, for her part, simply shook her head at him, "Um… I don't really mind what we do… but, if it's not too much trouble… perhaps we could simply… walk with each other? Around campus I mean?"

Thane titled his head this way and that until he finally nodded his head once at the idea, "Sounds grand! Well then Sayo-chan…"

Thane held his arm out for her, a gentlemanly smile on his face, "Shall we walk then Oh lady Pale?"

Sayo blushed again with a girly smile on her face and took his arm gleefully; savoring the contact she could get from him.

The two simply walked like that for several hours, the both of them finding simple pleasure in walking and talking. Thane, for his part, would tell Sayo little stories about his past few days during spring break, indulging her with other little details when she asked question.

Sayo for her part would tell Thane about all the funny little things she had seen on campus over the years.

However, it had started to Dawn on Thane that he had yet to tell Sayo his secret of being from another world. This in turn made him start to think about Sayo and if she was keeping any of her own secrets.

Namely any about her own death.

He remembered her saying things along the lines that she had said that his eyes had looked familiar. Thane still had no idea what that even meant or why since he had never seen her before, but he started to figure that he should find out.

"Hey Sayo-chan, can we sit down for a second? My legs are starting to get tired"

The ghost girl blinked a few times before she remembered that Thane was still physical and needed to rest, "Oh! Of course! Sorry about that"

Thane waved her concern away, simply opting to sit down on the closest park bench, but he also took some effort to go out of the way of most other places so he could take the time to talk with Sayo, he did have a lot to ask after all.

The both of them sat on the iron bench, Sayo enjoying the time she spent with Thane while the Male simply looked out into the sky while leaning against the bench. This went on for a few more minutes before any interaction was initiated, mostly by Thane,

"Sayo-chan…"

"Yes sensei?"

Thane noticed the sweet expectancy she had. He couldn't help but smile on the inside, her behavior was always so sweet, even after being alone for so long,

"I have a question for you… but… I'm not sure how I should go about asking it"

Sayo felt puzzled by Thane's sudden change in tone, it was unsure, and somewhat hesitant.

"Alright, feel free to ask me any questions you might have Sensei; I'll answer to the best of my ability!"

Thane moved his lower lip in thought, his questions forming in his mind.

"Well… You've been dead for sixty years right? And you know I'm not that old correct?"

Sayo nodded her head, not exactly sure what he was getting at.

"Well… you said on the first day we met that to you… my eyes where familiar… But I'm not that old and… I'm not from around here. Why did you say that?"

The ghost girl blinked a few times before she turned her attention to the sky, her thoughts running through her head. There was silence between the two of them for a little while, the air buzzing with the energy of spring.

Sayo breathed out a few times before she shook her head, "I'm…not sure Sensei. Your eyes just seem very… memorable to me for some reason…like something one tries very hard to remember but it continues to elude them for the longest time."

"A long forgotten memory you mean?"

"Yeah! Like that! But… why are you asking?"

Thane was silent for a few more minutes before he let his words slip from his mouth, "Because, I think that it might have something to do with the way you died"

The silence that followed was almost as loud as the buzzing insects.

Very much so.

Thane was afraid that he may have just stepped on a land mine, but if the question was already asked, he may as well as continue,

"I know that it may be something of a hard memory for you Sayo-chan, but I would like it if you told me about your death"

Thane looked over at her, noticing her eyes where hidden and a sinking feeling growing in his gut

'_I may have gone too far with that'_

After a few more seconds of the Ghost not saying anything, Thane felt like that her should perhaps abandon this line of thought for another time, "Um… listen, maybe-"

Before he could finish his thought, Sayo spoke up, and he shut up faster than he thought possible

"Sensei… I would like to… really, I would… but"

Thane felt his gut clench, he could never handle the faces of hurt people. It always made him feel very very guilty. However, when he looked over at Sayo, he had been expecting a sad or even a pained face. Instead, she looked rather sheepish,

"I… don't exactly remember my death… he he… sorry"

There was another silence, this time in Thane taking a moment to register what he just heard

"Oh… well then… That Kinda makes my question moot then doesn't it"

Sayo simply giggle again, "A little bit… but why are you curious about it all of a sudden?"

"Oh… mostly because of the thing about my eyes really, I was just curious is all"

Sayo simply shook her head at him, "That's alright, but to be honest Sensei, I don't even remember my death. I just found myself like this one day, and for the past sixty years, I've just been alone, or I was until you came along"

Thane felt himself blush from her bright smile and tried to distract himself by scratching his neck

"I see… well, I guess, since you don't know, we really don't need to sit around anymore then do we? How about we go ahead and head on to the next destination shall we?"

Sayo agreed quickly, just happy to experience more warmth from his touch again.

However, Thane's thoughts where on Sayo and her odd predicament,

'_so she doesn't remember then… this is going to take some work then, but not right now, for the time being, I'll simply let it be…'_

**Xx Several hours later xX**

Thane looked out into the woods with some slight worry on his face, "Ya know… the few times that I have been here, I've always had a guide… Not that I'm saying I'll get lost or anything! I just don't want to… you know; go down the wrong path or anything!"

Sayo, for her part, simply tilted her head innocently, "Why would you go down the wrong Path? It's a straight road to Eva-san's cottage."

"Well… animal paths ya know!? Little bunny trails and deer trails tend to build up over time and create divergences that will lead souls like me astray!"

Sayo wasn't sure, but in her ears, that sounded like a flimsy excuse to say that he gets lost easily.

She wasn't going to point it out however,

"Alright… would it be better if I took the lead?"

Thane could only shrug his shoulders in a bad attempt to cover his relief, "If you feel like it, I wouldn't mind"

Sayo giggled inwardly, she knew he was lying, but again, she wouldn't call him out on it.

Everybody had there quarks after all.

The both of them made their way into the forested area, Sayo leading Thane while the Youth simply followed behind quietly. In less than twenty minutes flat (A feat that would have been impossible by himself) the very edge of Eva's cottage made itself visible.

Thane stopped for a moment and pulled out a bag of books and notes he kept with him.

Sayo noticed that the Title said something along the lines of

**:Seal research for Eva:**

Sayo would have paid it more attention, but the fact that he opened the book before she could read anymore hindered that little thought

"Alright Sayo-chan. I'm going to go ahead and head on. I think it might be best if you went ahead and head for home. It's starting to get late"

Sayo felt her mouth turn in a downward direction, "Really? Do I have to?"

Thane chuckled a little to himself before he responded, "Well… you don't have to, but it's going to be dark before I get done here. Are you sure you want that?"

Sayo felt her ghostly spine tingle a little from the prospect, "Oh… um… well… I guess if I have to…"

Thane felt a pang of guilt run through his body from the dejected look on her face and started to stroke the top of her head in an attempt to remove it, "I know we didn't hang out that often this Break, But I promise that I_ will_ come and hangout with you tomorrow. Thankfully, the new term starts tomorrow, so lot's more chances to see you!"

Sayo wasn't entirely convinced, but he had never broken a promise to her yet, so she nodded her head,

"Alright Sensei. I hope to see you tomorrow, be safe and Take care"

Thane waved at the ghost as she floated away, a smile on his face as she did. After she did vanish from sight, Thane took a deep breath and turned to face the cabin,

"Alright then… let's get this show on the road…"

Thane took only a few seconds to get to the top of the steps and in front of the door. He quickly rapped his knuckles on the wooden door, the resounding knock of flesh on wood sounding awfully dim.

For a few minutes, he simply stood there and waited for Chachamaru to open the door (He knew That Eva was the type to never do it herself) but after a few minutes of this, he decided that nobody was coming and tried to open the door himself.

Much to his surprise, it gave away easily.

From what he could gather, it was unlocked.

He quickly peeked inside, and the moment he did, he regretted it.

Sitting on the couch that he had tumbled over last night was Evangeline. But that wasn't the odd thing. The whole reason he instantly regretted opening the door was that she had apparently been playing some games of some sort, this indicated by the controller in her hand and the open bag of apple crisps on her side.

But that wasn't the odd part.

The odd part was that she was lying on the couch, stark naked and seemingly not having a care in the world, or that's what he guessed her reaction had been moments before.

Her current reaction was one of surprise, which quickly melted into an embarrassed _fury_

"WHAT THE HELL!? You ever heard of knocking you idiot!?"

Faster than he thought possible from a sealed vampire, she was already on her feet and had almost glided across the floor at impossible speeds, slamming the door in his face and sending him flying into the dirt behind him.

Thane shot back up, his face red form both embarrassment and pain. He quickly started to rub his stinging nose, hoping that it wasn't broken or fractured in anyway.

By the time the door was flung open with a fully clothed Eva standing there, Glaring at him, he had already managed to get back up and had his stuff sorted and straightened out again.

The both of them simply stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before Thane attempted some conversation,

"Um… hi… Eva-san… Sorry about that, I uh… was coming over to show you the… results of my work from yesterday… and I thought you uh…might want to see?"

She was still glaring at him, her obvious exposure still the more important thing on her mind, but, even she couldn't deny the man for long, not when he might have a way to break her seal.

A simple huff was his answer and she made her way back inside, leaving the door open in invitation.

Thane hesitantly made his way inside, not sure if the short vampire was going to simply tear his head off the moment he made it inside.

Thankfully, that wasn't what happened, but the vampire still wasn't happy with him, something that was made very apparent when he saw her sitting at the table, still glaring at him.

Thane quickly made his way over, not wanting to anger the vampire any further than necessary.

"So uh… I haven't made much progress in the actual release of the seal itself…"

He noticed the twitch in her eyes, and quickly started to make his point,

"But! I have been looking into the process of the seal itself, I'm still unaware of what the second component is that was used, but another method has made itself known to me. I came here hoping that my research might be more fruitful if you looked over it? Check and see if you agree with the ideas. You are a resident of this world, and you might notice any flaws in my theories…"

He left the implication in the air, something That Eva did indeed notice. Despite the rude intro to her evening, McDowell felt some slight elation at what he was suggesting,

"So… if what you are telling me is correct, you may have found another way. A loop hole of sorts?"

Thane pulled out all the notes and diagrams he had on the subject along with a few books,

"In theory. But, that's what I'm here to prove. If the theory is true or not"

Eva looked at all the papers he had, somewhat confused by the amount he had in comparison to yesterday.

"Why so little this time around?"

Thane stopped for a second, her bad mood still playing itself in his mind.

"well… I… kinda needed a quiet place to work. I haven't gotten that much done today, plus, as I said, I might need your help if I run into anything That Might need some cross referencing. I would hope that all your years alive would have given you a library like knowledge of what I'm working with"

The Mage started to stroke her chin, but eventually stopped and turned her head to the game she was still playing.

"Fine, work here if you want, and I'll help you if necessary. But if you bug me anymore than necessary, I'll make you regret it"

Thane nodded his head in confirmation, watching as she got back up and went right back to playing her game. Thane watched her play for a little bit, the small moving characters on the TV screen only looking somewhat interesting. From what he could see, it was a war game of sorts. A Real time strategy if what Yuna said was true. But since it had nothing to do with Eva's seal, he quickly ignored it and started his work.

It was defiantly a long going process, that much could be said about it.

The both of them where like this for at least four hours, Thane only stopping long enough to get something to drink, or to ask Evangeline a question. To Thane, all this research and cross referencing was somewhat fun in his opinion. He hardly got to do this while he was here, and he would be just plain stupid if he didn't take the chance to study up on new magic's.

Eva, for her part, would simply play her game. This one map had been giving her trouble, and she was finally starting to conquer it. Only stopping to give Thane an answer to his question, or to get up and stretch her legs for a little bit.

After another hour or so, Thane simply had to stop for a moment,

"Now let's see here…"

He pulled two blank pieces of paper up side by side and extracted a pencil from his bag, "If this one is the usual seal…"

He sketched out a large circle with all the arcane ruins he remembered from the Eva's seal.

He then placed the other piece of paper on top of it, adding more stuff, "And if this is what I think it's going to be…"

he quickly jotted out several more things, running his hand over his drawing a few times as if to better imprint it on his mind,

"Then… it might look more like this perhaps?"

He pulled out another blank sheet of paper and sketched a crude drawing of the two together, but he quickly scowled at it and shook his head,

"If I wanted to blow up a chipmunk maybe…."

He placed it down on the table and started to erase all the marks, but leaving the circle unchanged.

"No… but maybe…"

He quickly started to write again, but stopped when his own mind reached the conclusion before his hands did.

"Crap… won't work… ugh… why does this have to be so hard…"

Thane placed his head on top of the table, right next to the paper and blew on it rather loudly

"This isn't going as well as I had hoped…"

Thane sat there, staring into the Kitchen with as much attention as one of the students from class, which wasn't a lot and blew on the paper again, this time sending it airborne with the other one.

He watched them flutter to back onto the table, the bottom one slightly shifting under the breeze of the other two, leaving them all obtuse on top of each other. He looked at them, feeling somewhat dejected, or he did.

Until he looked at them more closely.

He slowly got back up, a confused expression on his face as he stared at them intently, "wait a minute… no… but… could it work?"

Thane stared for a moment longer before he hesitantly grabbed the first sheet, folding it into a triangle shape and leaving only about a quarter of the circle on paper, he then did the same for the other two pieces of paper, placing them all together and staring down at the result.

It took his brain a moment to realize it, but then it hit him square in the face, "Like half and half… only use a part so as not to have the same formula… That's it!-!-!"

Thane grabbed a brand new piece of paper out from his page and quickly started to sketch out the whole of the circle, making many notes as he put it to paper.

After what had to have been forty minutes of doing this, making a few corrections to the notes and the seal itself, Thane finally was staring down at the work, a triumphant smile on his face

"I still don't know what the second element is, but this is the counter! This is the loop hole! Ha ha! Suck on that!"

Thane quickly ran over to where Eva was, excitement in his steps as he did, "Eva-san! Eva-san! I figured it out! It's-"

However, when he rounded the couch, he found the small girl sitting there hunched over, her face hidden behind her long blond hair.

Thane went quiet for a moment before he titled his head in confusion at her.

"Eva-san?"

It was then that he started to notice a noise from the television, turning his attention to it. From what he could see, all the little blue guys (Her units) where getting killed off in a spectacular manner by all the red guys. (The AI)

Thane blinked in confusion a few times before he turned his attention back to her, "hey… Eva"

He knelt down and pointed to the screen "hey, all your little buddies are getting killed off you know"

He examined her for a second longer before he noticed something about her face. Her eyes where closed and her chest was raising and falling in a steady rhythm and her face was rather peaceful.

Thane blinked a few times in wonder before he felt himself smile.

"Out like a light…"

'_Aw… she looks kinda cute like this, ya know… for a vampire I mean'_

the sound of another of the units dying at the hands of an armored Samurai forced Thane to look at it. Eva's members where dwindling, and fast. So instead of letting the man slaughter continue, he looked back down at the controller in her hand, reaching out for it and to figure out which button did what,

"well… I suppose I should pause it… but how do you do that? Is it this one? Eh? No… that did nothing… um maybe… gah, no not that one either… Maybe I should just take it from her"

He had been finding it hard to move her fingers out of the way, and the fact that he didn't know which of these old buttons was the pause for this game was annoying, so he opted to try to take the controller from her.

However, whether it be from her latent strength or her desire to simply hold on, Eva simply would not let go.

Thane actually tried to tug it from her in his frustration, but, in doing so, caused the girl to fall over and into his chest,

"whoa!"

He quickly caught her; else she would have kept falling and hit the floor. And the last thing he needed was an even angrier Evangeline.

But in doing so, he put himself in somewhat of a compromising situation. As far as he could tell, Chachamaru had gone out somewhere; he hadn't bothered to ask Eva, so that left him alone with her. That was a good thing, else The god's only know what kind of conclusions the Girl would have jumped to.

But she was close, waaaaaaaaaaaaay to close for his liking.

Her head was just right under his chin and he had both his arms wrapped around her small frame. Doing the first thing that came to mind, he slowly flipped her around, making her back lean against his chest and tried to gently rouse her by shaking,

"H-hey… wake up Eva… all your little guys are dying, plus, I have something to tell you"

He found the lack of volume in his voice to be somewhat worrying. He gently pushed his finger against her cheek, hoping that that would wake her up, but he very quickly became distracted by the feeling of her blond locks on his fingers.

They had been so very soft.

She had obviously spent a great deal of time making it nice, and the only other person he could remember who went to such lengths with their hair was his child, Levi.

Almost unconsciously, he started to run his fingers through her hair, feeling the soft texture as he gently glided it across his fingertips.

He was starting to feel strangely warm in his face, and he felt that he might not be getting as much air to his lungs as he should have.

But that wasn't on his mind, the only thing he could currently see was the golden hair in front of him

'_it… it feels so much like Levi's… I wonder…'_

he slowly, very very slowly brought his face closer to the top of her head, feeling his breath start to quicken at the next thought

'_I wonder… if it smells like it to…'_

He gently let his face become immersed in her hair, the gentle silky feeling it generated swimming across his face like a sea of silk. He took several smalls breaths of her hair, of her scent, and felt himself start to shudder a little. She smelled strongly of a rose. Odd considering that she didn't have any.

Thane took another small sniff of her hair and started to run his fingers through her locks, wanting to touch more of it. It was at this point that a good deal of his self-control was starting to fade, and he even started to pet her head.

He quickly stopped, and even regained some of his lost senses when she made a small noise.

It was a sigh, a small and content sigh, like a child in the arms of a parent as they showered her in affection.

At this point, common sense was making an exit stage left.

He started to pat her even more, a smile starting to come over his face as he kept on, taking small smells of her hair and continuing to smother her in affection like a small doll.

It was at this point that, just as Common sense started to open the exit, Reason and Consequence decked him in the face, sending him back center stage.

Thane stopped dead cold as he suddenly remembered just who was in his arms. She may look like a ten year old girl, she may look peaceful when asleep, but in his arms was an 800 year old Vampire, one with considerable power and Ego.

'_What the hell am I doing!-?-! She could__** kill me**__ if she caught me doing this!-!'_

Now, instead of trying to pet her like a little doll, he was considering the thing in his arms like a time bomb, ready to blow if just one thing went wrong.

Thane very cautiously removed his arms from around her small, feeling a small amount of sadness from the action.

'_Now to get her off'_

Sometimes, life can make things easy, or it could make things very hard; and sometimes, it just likes to screw with people.

Just as Thane was about to try to pick up the diminutive Vampire, he felt her shift on his body, somewhat turning and gripping onto his jacket like a child.

Thane felt his eye twitch. He quickly examined her over a few times, trying to find a way to get her off without rousing her _now_, but from what he could see, it was doomed to fail.

'_Ph-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-ck…'_

He stared down at her with as much terrified annoyance as possible, but it quickly started to melt away when he saw the sleeping face of what in his eyes looked like a little girl.

'_I'm going to so die… and you know what? If I'm going to die, then I'm going to enjoy every moment of my last few hours, or minutes, of my life!'_

With a determination not seen in only the most diehard of people, Thane got back to cuddling the little girl in his arms.

If he was going to die, he was going to die happy!

However, the girl didn't wake up, and Thane started to feel sleep start to overcome him from being so warm.

It went like this for a few more minutes before Thane was fast asleep with the girl in his arms.

**Xx sometime later (an hour) xX**

Heavy.

Eva felt something of a pressure on her upper body, shifting her from a totally asleep status, to a half awake one.

"Ugh… wah…"

she opened her eyes in a bleary fashion, the world looking a lot like when she's had one to many sips of sake.

She blinked her eyes, trying to get both her sight back and to try to think a little more coherently. After a few more seconds, she started to take in a little more of the things she was feeling around her.

First, the pressure she was feeling on her upper body.

It felt a lot like a bar was there, only softer and warmer.

The second thing she noticed was the position she was feeling herself in.

She was on something soft, and sitting up from what she could feel. It was also warm, very comfortably so, so much in fact that she felt like going right back to sleep.

But that thought was quickly squashed out.

The other thing she noticed was her right hand, it felt like it was clutching something soft, a lot like a blanket.

The last thing she noticed was the thing on her head, whatever it was; it was beating a steady rhythm on the top of her head. It took her a moment, but she felt it moving her hair slightly every time it hit.

The only thing her mind was drawing was that this was an odd situation she was in, whatever it was.

'_No reason to not know any longer now is there.'_

She opened her eyes, the world finally coming into focus for her. The first thing she saw in her left eyes was a blue jacket; her right eye saw that she was staring out into her room while on her side.

'_Ok… I guess I feel asleep…next to the couch… on a puffy warm beanbag with a jacket over it… ok, something doesn't make sense here'_

Eva pushed herself away from whatever it was she was laying on, the top her head brushing against something, but she didn't pay it much mind.

What she did pay mind was the sight she saw.

Lying there, his arms around her body in a comforting manner, was the pale assistant teacher of her class fast asleep and looking content.

Her mind momentarily froze.

Something about this whole situation was very odd.

It took her mind a moment to register what it was, but it quickly sank in when it did.

This was humiliating and very embarrassing.

She felt her cheeks flush, and her body start quake in anger

"You… You!"

she was livid.

Seal or not, this guy was dead with a capital D.

Thane, for his part, was half roused from his slumber, only vaguely aware of the true danger he was in

"Huh… who's… oh… Levi… right…"

Much to the vampire's disbelief, Thane wrapped his arms around her again and pulled her close, starting to stroke her hair and whispering, "it's aight… winter's not so cold when we're together… just stay close to me and I'll keep you warm…"

Eva would have torn his head off, ripped his guts out and strewn them across her yard in bloody glee.

But the _petting_!

For some damned reason, it just felt so nice!

She wanted to beat him to a bloody mosaicked mass for this indignation, and yet at the same time she was starting to feel comfortable, the way his fingers just seemed to sooth her scalp with the gentle touches.

She felt her anger starting to dissipate and her mind start to lull back into a complacent sleep.

That is until the sound of someone moving out of the kitchen distracted her.

"Ah. I see that you are awake Mistress"

Eva jolted upward, throwing Thane's arms off her body,

"Chachamaru! What the hell is going on here!?"

The Gynoid simply walked over to her mistress and bowed, "I am sorry. As you know, I was on charge the whole time, but my sensors still told me that Thane Sensei had arrived, else I would have gotten the door in order to save you the embarrassment."

Eva felt her anger kick start at that.

"After you and he had your conversation, you had gone back to playing games as he continued working. I believe that at some time or another, you had fallen asleep. Most of your units are dead by the way due to that"

Eva glanced over at the TV and saw that she had indeed let a good deal of her forces die.

Damn, now she was going to have to start the level over, just another thing to add to her rage.

"At some point, Thane-sensei had apparently figured out something as he tried to rouse you from your sleep to tell you, but tried to pause your game for you, in which he was successful, but at the extent of you falling in his lap."

"I did what?"

"You fell in his lap. Weather it was from the close proximity or other such things, I am unaware. He tried at first to get you off, but eventually, I believe he gave up and simply let it stay that way, eventually falling asleep himself"

while all of this conversation had been going on, The person they had been talking about was starting to rouse from his slumber, and awake he did, only to feel that something was out of place.

"Huh… what…"

Eva glanced down at the young man she was sitting on, an evil smirk starting to quickly form on her mouth, "Oh? Finally awake are we?"

The sound, the very tone of her voice, sent a chill down his spine and he quickly was wide awake, his eyes wide as he stared at the Vampire in his lap and his face losing all of its color, or what little it had.

"E-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-EVA-SAN!-?-!"

The vampire moved in closer to his face, her smirk now more of a grimace, "Well now… I hope you had a good rest, and I surely hope you were _comfortable_ with a little girl on your lap"

Eva's knuckles started to crack as she flexed her hand.

Thane knew he was dead.

Deader than dead; beyond cadaver dead.

If he could come up with a new word for it, he was pretty sure he was cadaverized and not even aware of it just yet.

So he decided to shoot himself in the foot,

"Yup, very cozy"

Eva flinched, and Chachamaru probably would have as well if she had the capability to do so.

Eva lurched forward, Causing Thane to close his eyes in fear of his impending death. He had stared down horrible abominations in his time on Estoria, but the sight of a ten year old girl terrified him more than ever before in that moment.

However, where he was expecting a hand being driven into his chest cavity and ripping out his heart and other internal organs, he instead felt two sets of hands on his face and violently tugging on his cheeks.

"Owowowowowowowowowowowowowow owowowowow!-!-! Hat urts!-!-!"

"Good you Lolicon!-! Teach you to mess with me!-! The only reason you're even breathing right this second is because Chachamaru said you may have discovered something!"

she quickly let go of his cheeks and brought her face a mere inch away from his, her eyes eager for that knowledge,

"So spit out what you found!"

Thane, for his part, was just a little too distracted by the proximity of her hair, suddenly remembering how soft it had felt in his hands. He quickly squashed that thought as he remembered that it was thinking like that that had gotten him in this mess in the first place.

"Um… yeah… I'll show you… just as soon as I'm capable of moving again…"

The Vampire was slightly confused until she realized that she was still sitting on top of him. Eva hopped off of him, taking carful measures to hop on his lower abdomen as she got up.

"Oof!"

Thane started to rub his stomach, yeah, he deserved that one.

Thane quickly got up from the floor, wanting to get out of range of the Vampires hands and feet as quickly as possible.

Eva, for her part, was happy to see the fear in his eyes as she sat at the table across from him.

Thane quickly pulled out several pieces of paper and the diagram he had made and showed it to her.

"This is how we work past the seal"

Eva, though familiar with the seal itself, wasn't sure what she was looking at. To her, it looked like he took the original seal and pretty much hashed it together with a few others she didn't recognize.

"The heck am I looking at here?"

Thane smiled at her, "Our loophole."

He pulled out another sheet of paper, this time with writing on it and handed it to her, "My botched attempt at removing your seal yesterday started to get me thinking about a few things, first and foremost, the second element. No matter how hard I tried to figure it out, it eluded me. So I abandoned any and all attempts at trying to remove the seal. But that left me with a sticky problem, if I wasn't going to try to remove the seal itself, how was I going to go about it then? Then it struck me dead in the head. We bypass all the normal methods and go for one that plays perfectly into our hands"

Eva looked up at the youth, excitement starting to grow in her gut. Thankfully, she was wise enough to keep it hidden,

"And what method plays into our hands?"

"You being a vampire"

Now Eva was confused, "Um… this seal restricts my vampiric abilities or most of them anyway. Thankfully, on nights of the full moon, I regain some of my Vampiric powers back"

Thane nodded his head, "Exactly! Now, it didn't occur to me at first, but it's thanks to that that we now have a way to get rid of your seal…"

Thane let himself stop; enjoying the dramatic pause he gave himself and wanting to revel in the glory of it for a few more seconds.

Eva, however, was far too impatient for the wait,

"well? What is it?!"

Thane's face momentarily frowned, but he let it pass, "The Caster. He or she used blood as a catalyst."

Thane felt this revelation wash over them, but the reaction he got wasn't what he was expecting

"Yes, and? Even I was aware of that"

Thane blinked a few times blankly, "You were already aware of that?"

Her stare told him the answer.

Thane simply shook his head, "Alright… I thought you might have figured it out if you knew that much… but apparently not… We use the blood of the caster to break your seal!"

She still looked confused, "I'm not sure where you're going with this"

"*Sigh* alright… allow me to explain… you are a vampire. You drink blood. Caster used his blood to seal you. You drink his blood, you become too close to an essential component of the spell for the seal to continue to work effectively and-"

Eva's eyes instantly lit up in clarity,

"The seal breaks!"

"Bingo!"

Eva was momentarily delighted at the simplicity of the method, but her memory of who cast it quickly darkened her mood,

"Wait…no… this method is impossible"

Thane blinked in shock at her sudden proclamation, "What? Why! Everything is in the work! I haven't messed up with anything!"

"No you fool! Your work is spot on, the caster; however, I know is six feet under and pushing up daises"

There was momentary silence, "Oh… shit…"

Eva shook her head, "Is there another way for this to work? Any alternatives to this spell?"

Thane bit his lower lip for a moment before he nodded his head, "Maybe… perhaps if… yes! Yes there is a way to salvage this! A relative!"

"Would that work?"

Thane quickly nodded his head, pulling out some sheets of paper and examining it, "Yes… it should, I'm about 98.9% certain that it will. But the person has to be as close in relation as possible, like a sibling or-"

"A child of the person perhaps?"

Thane Blinked a few times.

He hadn't expected that answer from her, "well… yes actually, a child might actually work better than a sibling. The closer the relation, the better."

Eva glanced at him and then out into the room, a smirk growing on her face,

"I see… that's good then"

How Ironic for her that _his_ son just so happened to be close by, and would be just the release to this seal.

"How much would be necessary?"

Thane blinked, a most confounded "Huh?" coming from his mouth.

"How much blood would it take to release this seal?"

Thane opened his mouth for a second, about to reply before he actually thought about it, "Huh… um… well… this is just conjunction, but since the blood is about half the original, and you're going to need a lot. I'm afraid that you might need to drain the person of nearly all their blood. But that's just speculation on my part; it might break with the first drop for all I know. Magic's funny like that"

Eva nodded her head in agreement.

Magic did tend to be chaotic at times.

The both of them sat there in silence, their own thoughts racing in their minds.

They were both interrupted when Chachamaru just seemed to appear out of nowhere and placed a tray of tea on the table between them.

"You both appeared in need of some refreshments, so I took it upon myself to make some tea for you both. Green tea for you both"

Thane blinked a few times before he smiled at the ever stoic girl, "Thank you Chacha-chan; that was considerate"

The girl bowed again before she stood beside her mistress, the small vampire taking a few sips of the hot tea.

Thane, for his part, simply let it set for the moment, his thoughts elsewhere, "So… Eva-san… what's the next course of action?"

The vampire stopped sipping and glanced over at him.

The both of them staring at each other for a moment before Thane turned away in embarrassment, his earlier bout of slight insanity surfacing.

Eva simply huffed out loud, "You mean in regards to the seal? At this point in time, nothing really."

"But shouldn't we be looking to see if this guy has any siblings or children?"

"No need. I know he has a single child, and I know where to find him. Actually, at this point in time, there really isn't anything more for you to do."

Thane was mildly surprised to say the least, he hadn't been expecting her to already know all that kind of info, but didn't press for it,

"So… will you be needing my help in securing this person?"

He didn't notice it, But the vampire hesitated for a moment, not sure if he would help with this or not. But before she could start any suspicion, she quickly shook her head,

"No, that won't be necessary. Just leave the rest to me from now on."

Thane blinked a few times, not really sure what to think about that.

Eva noticed his somewhat confused expression and spoke up, "Don't think I'm just blowing you off, I'm actually very grateful for what you've done for me. It's just, this last little bit won't require your help is all"

"Soooooo… does that mean I can still come and hang out with you on a later date?"

The vampire was actually somewhat surprised at that one, "You… want to come and hang out?"

"Yeah, I feel that we might have become just a little closer is all. I guess I kinda want to see if you consider me a… friend?"

He left the question hanging for the vampire to answer.

Eva, in her long life, didn't believe that having friends was a good thing, or for that fact, very helpful.

But, she found that she couldn't just think of Thane as a simple stranger.

He had, with no reward for himself, gone and simply helped her simply because he felt like it.

But even then, she couldn't consider him a friend, the word simply made her skin crawl.

Eva pondered on it for a moment longer before an answer made itself known to her, "Not so much as friends as…associates maybe?"

Thane tilted his head, not really dejected at the avoidance, "I can agree with that"

Thane drank his tea in a single go, getting a confused look out of the Mini-vampire,

"I hate to run, but I'm already under scrutiny from my dorm mates, and I promised to be more punctual with them from now on. So, I'll catch you tomorrow in Class Eva-san. Sleep well, and call me up if you start having trouble with the seal again"

Thane grabbed the papers up off the table and put them away, waving the both of them goodbye as he left the cabin.

Eva watched the door close with a click and simply stared at it for a few long hard minutes, the dead silence of the room only being broken when Chachamaru spoke up,

"why did you not ask for his assistance Mistress? He seemed willing enough to help you"

Eva simply shook her head, "I know he's willing to help me, but I'm pretty sure he's just as willing to help out That Brat as well. I can tell right now, he's the type of guy who hates breaking promises, and I know for a fact that he intends on helping the Child teacher."

Chachamaru sent that through her data banks for a moment, the result of such an action quickly displaying itself to her,

"I see…"

Eva sipped the last of her tea and snapped her finger's, a cloak hanging from the wall floating off the peg and onto her shoulders as she stood up,

"It's a good thing I started gathering magical power 6 months back. I had only intended on teaching the boy a lesson, but now I can catch him and drain him of his blood, releasing me from this seal entirely… Come! We need just a little more power…"

Chachamaru complied with her mistress ad opened the door for her, the both of them fading into the long shadows of the late evening forest.

**Xx Thane xX**

The Pale youth walked lazily along the road, his thoughts on the earlier talk with Eva playing in his mind,

"Well… if she doesn't want my help for the last bit, then I won't stick my nose In it more than necessary… but it kinda makes me feel dejected in a way"

Thane simply shook his head, "No matter, as the old saying goes _'leave a giant to step on his own toes_' wait…I don't think anybody knows what that means here…"

The Pale youth simply shrugged his shoulders, the walk back to the dorms rather uneventful and almost boring. Or it was, until he met someone he didn't expect to see standing outside the doors

"Oh? Hello there Madoka-san. Back from Karaoke already? I was expecting you and the others to be out till it was well past curfew"

The cheerleader turned her attention to Thane, and for the first time, he noticed something large in her arms. From the looks of it, it was a very large box, as big as her front and just barely under her eyelevel.

She shuffled the box around in order to talk better,

"Oh, hello Thane-sensei. We had intended on staying out longer, but my dad said he wanted to give me something and that he had shipped it a few days back. He told me it was going to be here today, so we came back and found this large box with the mailman."

Thane nodded his head, his curiosity starting to urge him into finding out what was in such a large box " I see…Sooooooo… know what's in the box?"

"No, not yet. I was just about to take it upstairs and open it myself. Misa and Sakurako already went ahead of me to open the door"

Thane nodded once in understanding and then came over, "want me to help you out? I can carry it for you if you like"

"really? You would? That would be nice. I'm not sure how well I would have made it up the elevator by myself"

Thane took the box from her hands, surprised at how light it was. He actually shook it a bit and only heard a rustling, "Huh… why such a big box for something so light?"

The cheerleaders' only answer was a shake of her head. The both of them made their way to the elevator, Madoka helping to Guide Thane along as he made extra sure to be careful. Thankfully, Madoka's room wasn't very far from the elevator itself and they quickly made it to the room without any kind of hassle.

Madoka took the box from his grasp, a smile of thanks on her face, "Thank you Sensei for the help, I can manage from here"

"No problem, was happy to help. I'll see you tomorrow Madoka-san"

But before he could leave, Madoka quickly stopped him, "ah! Wait Sensei! Remember those CD's I told you about? Sense your, how about I give them to you to listen to?"

"Sure, sounds cool! I'll wait right here then"

Madoka nodded her head and made her way in the room to retrieve the music.

It took a few minutes, and Thane was sure he heard someone yelling out 'he's not my boyfriend!', But Madoka came back, blushing a little and looking a little miffed

"here you are Sensei, sorry about the wait"

Thane took the CD's from her out stretched hand and nodded in thanks, "No problem, and don't worry, I'll get them back to you in one piece"

Thane noticed Misa in the back, grinning smugly, "God, already exchanging stuff with Him Madoka? Why don't you just get a room already and marry him?"

Thane didn't stick around for the ensuing argument that was going to happen. He had seen it too many times to know when to leave.

He quickly made his way back to his room, feeling as if his day had had a great deal of merit to it

'_fixed that problem with Eva's seal, Got to know Madoka a little better, had an adventure In Library Island, got to see Sayo-chan after so long, and best of all, I only got lost twice today! Yup, been a good day today…' _

Thane smiled as he opened the door to his room, his thoughts on how tomorrow was going to be just as good, if not better.

* * *

><p>57,505 words... Christ almighty... My hand... she hurts...<p>

well now all! now we are going to get into some of the serious story! some of the major turning points in the life of Negi! But what will this Do for Thane?

Next time I can get a chapter out! The Vampire Arc! Let's be there shall we?

By the way, I went back and fixed up some of the older chapters, cleaned em up a bit is all. It's not major or anything, just a smoother read.

Edit: Also, something I wanted your opinion's on! The two new characters I Introduced, Juno and Keima. What was your reaction to them? do you think they should be removed, or do you want to see where they go from here on out? Leave it in the reviews! and feel free to ask me questions about the story itself!


	9. Chapter 9

Hello one and all to the long awaited chapter 6 of Pale Roots! Now I know what you will want to say!

TOOK YOU DAMN LONG ENOUGH!

You must forgive me sir's and/or madams. Real life likes to make everyone it's bitch... Not only that, but jobs tend to eat up more of my time then I would like. But enough about that! You came here to read about Thane! Not about why this story is late! But before we get to the reading... Time for reader responses! Oh goody I love these...

Alkhemia: Thank you! It does my heart good to hear that this story might have potential!

Writefag:Thank you sir! I will take this review and apply it to further enhance my ability to write! again, thank you for the review!

Guilop:I wouldn't say she forgot... more like she had other things on her mind 'll resurface though, just you wait!

Assassin4life: I wouldn't say a short novel... But by the way I keep writing, I may end up doing that one of these days... But thank you for the kind words!

APeeledOnion: I'm also glad to be writing again! now only if I could keep a steady pace...

DragonxNegima2: 3 hours? goodness sir! makes me happy to hear that! means I'm doing this writing thing right after all...

Anon: Of course he makes things worse! what made you think he would make it better?

"word" = words said out loud

_'word'_ = stands for internal monologue or thoughts

"**Word"** Or _"word"_ = stands for certain emphasis

{word}= things in brackets normally stand for another language

On with the show!

* * *

><p>Pale Root's<p>

Chapter 6: Things that go bump in the night

**Xx ? xX**

_Step one, right two, step one, right two._

_The tempo is soft, the music is melodious. The harp is plucked, the flute blown. _

_Step one, right two._

_The hand is soft, the pace is set, the face is hidden. The smile is not._

_Step one, right two, step one, right two._

_Her smile is small, her hat obscuring. Her hair is long, her laugh… discovered._

_Step one, right two._

_She step's, I step. I step, she steps. Our pace, simple. Our flow, lovely._

_Step one, right two, step one, right two._

_The Harp stops, the flute ceases. I step away, she does to. I bow, she curtsies._

_Step forward, wrap her hands. _

_I lean, she rises. Her lips met mine, soft as the music, plucked like strings._

_I pull away, she does as well, She smiles, I do as well._

_Her long locks of golden hair vanish, along with her. The small Blond girl, vanishing with the music._

**Xx ? xX**

Thane felt his eyes flutter, his mind returning to the land of the wakeful. He simply blinked his eyes a few minutes, the oddity of the dream he just had playing itself in his mind several times.

'_A harp… and a flute… I think that was… waltzing… I haven't waltzed in years…'_

Thane shook his head, not finding any answers by lying on the couch, and rose to a sitting position, his hair tumbling over his face as he did. The pale youth leaned over his knees, his chin on his fist as he thought.

'_waltzing… waltzing… why waltzing of all things?... and who was I dancing with? She looked vaguely familiar… and that thing in the middle…'_

However, much as he tried, his dream simply was just that, a dream, and was very hard to keep in his mind, especially this early. Thane let out a sigh and sat up straight, glancing over at Yuna's clock.

It was 4 A.M.

Thane blinked a few times, something in his body feeling odd. Thane rose to his feet and went into the kitchen, hoping that movement might remove the effect.

"Well… I Guess I have butterflies in my stomach because it's the start of the new semester… he… everybody's going to be third years now…"

Thane glanced over at the Bunk bed, The two sleeping forms of Akira and Yuna setting a smile on his face. However, that feeling in his gut wouldn't go away, not even at the prospect of the new day.

Thane shook his head at himself, his mind starting to pick up, "What feels so off right now…" Thane shook his head again and got some cool green tea out of the fridge, the feeling of the liquid rushing down his throat bringing him to full wakefulness. After getting a little more to drink, and a small bite to eat, he quickly got himself prepped and ready for his early morning session with Setsuna.

Or he would have, had the light rustling of one of the blankets not stopped him. Thane looked over to the Bunk bed and saw Akira rising from the covers, her eyes half-open and bleary.

"Thane?... wha… *Yawn*… What are you doing?"

Thane smiled at her and finished putting on his jogging clothes "Early morning jogging with Sakurazaki-san" Akira blinked a few times before she remembered Thane's usual mornings "oh… yeah…"

Thane nodded his head and looked at her for a little bit longer, he had to admit, her half asleep look was kinda cute with her hair all over her face and her eyes half lidded. Almost so much that he almost didn't noticed that she was talking again. "Thane… could… you perhaps not go this time?"

His reaction was to blink a few times in confusion. "Not go? Why?" She managed to sit herself up, her blanket around her body in order to keep in as much of the early morning heat as possible. "I… I don't… I don't know really… I… just have a bad feeling for some reason"

Thane blinked a few times in surprise. Not only was he having some strange feelings, But Akira as well? "Really? Oddly enough… I've… also had a strange feeling since I woke up…" Akira moved her blanket a bit, revealing a little more of her head, her expression one of worry. "You have?" Thane nodded at her question "Yeah… but, it could be just that. Just an Odd feeling."

Akira bit her lower lip, her own instincts telling her otherwise. Thane let out a sigh as he shrugged his shoulders "well… I know you don't want me to go, but, if this bad feeling does mean something, then it's my Job as an assistant teacher to find out what the cause may be. But I will say this, if you're really _really _insistent, I might change my mind"

Akira was silent for a moment. Thane had just offered her a chance to keep him here. But, she also knew that it would eat him up on the inside to not know what it was, and she would also start to feel rather bad about keeping him here. But she did find some small solace in the fact that he would do so much to try to ease her mind "No… your right. It might just be me having early morning problems or something…"

Thane cracked her a large smile "Maybe it's cramps?" Akira felt her face blush as she puffed out her cheeks in annoyance "You can be so indelicate sometimes you know." Thane gave her another smile and waved at her "so I've been told. Catch you later Akira. If it makes you feel any better, I'll be home at 6:30. Just in time to come back and get you guys to your first day of class as Third years."

Akira waved him off as he closed the door behind him, leaving the swimmer to ponder on the bad feeling in her gut. Akira observed the door for a little while longer before she put her hands together in prayer "I hope that you come out of this day alright Thane…"

**Xx Several hours later, Thane xX**

Setsuna was busy stretching her legs, using the railing to the dorms as a good hold bar. However, where she was busy stretching, her mind was elsewhere, right to twenty minutes ago in her room.

**Xx 628 xX**

"_Is something the matter Tatsumiya-san? What was the phone call about?" The tall woman reached under her bed and pulled out a long storage box, one in which had several Mechanical (and if Setsuna's guess was right about her partner, magical as well) locks that extended down the side of it. "Something needs investigating. The headmaster called me up to help _w_ith that. You don't need to worry, he told me that it might not be a demon, so you can go and have your early morning jog with your boyfriend" Setsuna felt her face flush from the snipers disregard for her relationship status. _

"_He's not my boyfriend! He's just a friend! And a good sparring partner!" Setsuna had hardly ever seen Mana smile, and the few times that she did, it was when money was in her hands. The fact that she had a small one right now creeped her out "Keep telling yourself that and maybe you'll believe it Sakurazaki" Then Mana went right back to her locks, an indication that she wasn't going to spare anymore words with her. Setsuna quickly left the dorm room, the heat unusually high in her room._

**Xx Now xX**

Despite the embarrassment she had suffered from her roommate's words, now that she was looking back on them, she quickly came to notice that Mana had deflected her from asking anymore questions about the assignment. Not that it was much of her business, if the headmaster needed her, then he would give her a call. But it was still somewhat troublesome to think that he would call on Mana, especially this early in the morning.

Setsuna was so lost in thought that she failed to notice the creeping shadow quickly making its way to her. It moved slowly, oh so slowly, until it was not but a few inches away from her. It stood there for a second, until it hollered out next to her ear "MORNING SETSUNA!" and for added emphases, Thane gave her rear a good slap, causing her to jump about 3 feet forward, her hands covering her now stinging posterior.

"Wah!" Setsuna quickly about faced, her face red from the invasion of her privacy and her hands still covering her backside in case there was a follow up "Thane!" Thane was grinning down at her with a bright wide smile, the hand he just used for rear side assault waving at her "Sorry sorry! You were just standing there looking kinda stuck, so I just decided to wake you up."

"You could have tapped me on the shoulder!"

"I know, but that's no fun… But…" Thane started to rub his chin sagely, as if to contemplate something profound in his thoughts. "perhaps I should have gone for a grope instead? Missed opportunity on my part then…" Setsuna's face was now doing a very good impression of a tomato. "THANE!" the older male now simply started to chuckle, covering his mouth so that the samurai couldn't see. "I was only joking Setsuna… but man are you so much fun…" The girl glared at him for a moment longer, only succeeding in making him giggle longer until she eventually let out a sigh. "Just keep your hands to yourself…"

The assistant teacher saluted her. "Yes Mame" Thane, having had enough of horsing around, simply stared out into the campus area, stroking his chin in thought "So Setsuna, what route do you think we should hit today? A, B, or maybe C for a change?" "Well… A seems like it's out of the question for today since you need to get back pretty soon. B Might work, but I think route C would be the best for today." Thane smiled at her knowingly "I see… the shortest route today then? Any particular reason for that?"

Setsuna tried to hide a slight blush by shrugging "No reason really, it's a very scenic route, and I don't feel up for a lot of running today." Thane simply laughed to himself at her obvious discomfort. "Me thinks it's more along the lines that you simply want to get back to Konoka-san as quickly as possible. The new term starts after all, and most students need to be at class early today." Setsuna didn't grace him with an answer to that, but he got all he needed from her blushing face. After setting up what pace they would be going at, a medium one they had decided, they quickly got underway.

It was a rather easy and somewhat lax route when it came to actual running, and one they only reserved for when they would attempt heavy sparring later on. However, after the both of them had decided that Thane didn't need as much in the way of swordsmanship, they had elected to do less time on training and more on physical endurance. So the fact that they were taking C had been somewhat of a surprise for Thane, but he didn't mind. He greatly enjoyed this route for several reasons. The first and foremost is the actual jog through the park. The rustling of leaves as they passed would grace his ears with a pleasant sound as it mixed in with the waking birds of spring. The smells of the last dredges of autumn would easily whistle away as the smell of budding flowers and pine would intermingle.

It was perhaps his most favorite part of the trip for scenery. The next part of the jog would normally take them through the Dining area of Mahora's Campus, Nicknamed the 'Chefs corner.' The smell of cooking food would normally grace his nose, leaving his stomach all the more hungry. Or, this would normally be the case. However, as the both of them made their way through the Chefs Corner, they quickly started to notice a seemingly bad vibe that hung in the air, so much that they eventually slowed to a stop by a café.

"You feel that Setsuna?" The Samurai nodded her head, a hard steel in her eyes as she looked around. "Yes… But, I'm not sure what it is… do you also happen to notice the lack of people?" Thane looked around, starting to register what Setsuna was on about. "I hadn't noticed at first, but your right. I don't see any" The both of them looked around in there general location for a little bit, but they didn't see anything in there general location. However, Thane had felt that the feeling would get stronger the closer he got to one of the streets. But just to confirm it, he walked around a bit. The reaction was the same every time he moved away, it would get stronger the closer he got. Finally, he quickly whistled for Setsuna.

"Hey, Setsuna, over here." The Girl made her way over, her curiosity hidden by her professionalism. "Yes? What is it?" "You feel that? Every time I get closer to this one road, that bad feeling would get stronger." Setsuna looked down the road he mentioned, extending her senses outward until she noticed what he was talking about. "Your right… this needs to be investigated. I'll make a call." However, before she could get her cell phone out, Thane stopped her. "Hold up a second, Perhaps we should check it out first, check and see if it isn't anything we can't handle first." "That goes against Procedure, if we find anything, then we need to report it first."

Thane looked her up and down before a smile was on his face. "True… for you anyway. I'm not part of anything, so I'm going to investigate it. You can stay here if you want" Before Setsuna could get a word in, Thane quickly made his way down the road. "Wait! Thane! You!... urgh! Can't he just do what I ask?! Wait for me!" Pulling Yunagi up further onto her shoulder, Setsuna quickly followed behind him, grumbling under her breath about lack of protocol. The both of them went further down the road, the quite stepping of their shoes contacting on sidewalk making for an eerie noise. Eventually, they both managed to make it to the end of the road. And when they did, it was something of a relief. All of the early morning store owners where out and about here, gathered around a crossed out building marked with caution tape all over the busted glass windows and door.

Thane looked around a bit, and noticed that everybody looked somewhat nervous. Setsuna forged past Thane and came close to one of the other vendor owners "Excuse me sir, what's going on around here?" an older man turned his attention and noticed the both of them and their curious stares. He pointed out the store itself and spoke up. "Early this morning, there was a break and entry." Thane came up next to Setsuna and tilted his eyebrows at the sight "Looks far more like a break then an entry. Nobody breaks both display windows **and** rips the door off its hinges to get in." The old man looked over at the destruction nervously. "You're right about that young man… I'm afraid that's all I know, if you want more details, you'll need to ask someone else or the guys investigating inside. I only just got here myself." And with that, he turned around and made his way back.

Thane turned to Setsuna and gave her a curious look. "so… should we investigate? Or do we consider it a normal robbery?" "I would normally consider it an average break-in… but this feeling…" Thane nodded his head, crossing his arms as he stared out at the busted up store. "I know… it feels dangerous. I guess we get closer and ask one of the police then." The both of them wormed their way through the large crowd, eventually making it to the front.

"So you're saying that you only heard the glass breaking?"

"Yes sir, that's when I gave the call"

Thane and Setsuna quickly identified the person who looked in charge. Thane was a little surprised to see who it was though, the familiar face having not been seen for several months at least. "Gandolfini-san?" The taller man turned his attention from his witness to the voice in the crowed and raised his eyebrow in some slight confusion. "You're… Hold a moment if you would." Both Thane and Setsuna nodded their heads at him as he quickly went back to the Witness. It was only a few more minutes before he dismissed the man and then came up to the both of them.

"Thane-kun I believe right? What are you doing here?" "Well, Myself and Setsuna here where on our early morning jogging and we decided to take a more scenic route. However, when we did come this way, I guess you could call it a… bad feeling?" Thane looked to Setsuna for confirmation of this, one in which she nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, it was an ominous presence. One in which warranted investigation as per the school protocols." The dark skinned man nodded his head as he lowered his voice to a whisper. "You would be correct in the feeling. However, a few of the other mage teachers are trying to identify it now. Nothing has turned up however. Thankfully, the most the Mundane's can feel is perhaps a slight headache."

Thane took a look around a noticed a few of them with their brows cringed in some pain. "I see… so it's magic at work?" "The remnants of it." Setsuna looked troubled while Thane nodded his head in understanding "Do you need any help from Setsuna or myself?" The taller man shook his head as he backed up a little "No. despite the oddity of it, Mahora is a Magical Campus, so things like this are more common than you might think. Your assistance isn't necessary." he curtly nodded at them both before he went back to exploring the area. Thane and Setsuna looked to each other and nodded their heads, making their way away from the crowd so that they could talk in private. "So, I suppose there was no need to investigate. It looks Like Gandolfini-san has everything under control."

Thane peeked over his shoulder at the scene, some slight amounts of curiosity in his brow. "Maybe…" Setsuna noticed his curiosity in the scene and looked back at it as well. "What? Is something wrong?" "It just seems odd is all… he said that he had mages on it… but this doesn't feel like something any mage would do. Notice for a second what that place is." Setsuna, curious, looked up at the sign that hung above the door. "Wine and Food outlet?" "Right. Being a mage myself, The only reason I would target this place is to either steal food or use it in some magic ritual, and that last option is only if this was a lay line. Other than the negative feeling I'm getting, it isn't on one." Setsuna crossed her arms and bowed her head in thought "Hum… Perhaps there was an item of value here? Something the attacker wanted?"

Thane simply shrugged his shoulders "I'm not sure, other than the options I gave you, I can't tell you what happened or why… if I had a little more info maybe…" Suddenly, the sound of one of the back ally trash cans seemed to shift, causing the both of them to quickly look over. Setsuna had her hand on her blade while Thane put his hand in his pocket, grabbing his Omni-tool. "Did you say you needed Info Sensei?" Where the both of them where expecting an enemy, instead, someone they recognized appeared out of the shadows of the alley. Thane and Setsuna blinked a few times before recognition set in.

"Asakura-san?" The red head greeted the both of them with her trade mark double finger salute. "Yo! How are you both doing?" Thane noticed that the reporter was dressed to be inconspicuous. A Ball cap to cover her hair and face, shorts that went just above her knees, a tight fitting tank top that showed a little more of her cleavage then Thane was used to seeing, and a small purse to complete the look. One wouldn't give her a second glance at the look, but it was the slight glint in the bag that made Thane tilt his head in curiosity. "Well Asakura-san… I'm kinda curious as to what you have a hidden camera for/" The reporter smiled slyly as she pulled it out and took a picture of them both/ "Why else? To get a scoop out of this crime scene. Need to be first before the rest of the wolves make it here and steal my story."

Thane nodded his head in admiration of her determination. _'that explains why she's out and about at 4 in the morning…'_ "So I heard you wanted some info about this place Sensei" The fact that she had started talking drew him out of his thoughts and to focus his attention on her. "Ah, yes I did. Do you happen to know anything about what happened here Asakura-san?" The reporter nodded her head with a sly grin. "Of course I did. Thanks to a source I will not mention, I had heard about this before the Campus police even knew about it. So I was out here before anybody had shown up. However, the Police came faster than I had expected, so I didn't get as much info as I would have liked." Thane nodded his head in understanding, though his internal thoughts where curious on what this source is that let her know before anybody else.

"That's impressive… so what did you hear?" Where they had been expecting an answer, instead, Kazumi clicked her tongue while smiling coyly. "ah ah ah Sensei… you think I would just give this info out freely? I'm going to need something in return for the disclosure of my own info…" Thane noticed an eager look in her eyes, and from what he could see, she wanted something in particular. Thane crossed his arms at her and simply smiled "Info for Info then… what do you want exactly then?" Like Magic, she had a microphone in her hand and a tape recorder in the other, invading more of Thane's personal space then was humanly comfortable. "I want an interview with you, One on one. Truth be told, you've been an enigma since you got here, and I plan on finding out what it is about you that seems so odd." Thane's eyebrow was raised in confusion and he glanced over at Setsuna, noticing her tired look. She quickly mouthed out a '_get on with it.'_

Thane shrugged his shoulders as he nodded his head. "Alright, one interview for your info on the situation." Asakura clenched her fist in victory and did a fist pump. "Yes!" She noticed the annoyed look that Thane was giving her and put her little tape recorder away, waving her hand in reassurance. "Don't worry Sensei, we won't do it now. I'll pick and choose the time and the place for the interview. Sound fair?" Thane wasn't sure what about that deal was fair, but he knew it was out of his hands. "Alright… now can we hear that info?" "Of course… let me just get my camera out here…" Asakura dug into her purse and extracted the small thing and got between Setsuna and Thane to show them the screen. "This is what I managed to take pictures of before I had to run off…" She opened the menu button and selected the 'crime scene' file, over 12 pictures making themselves known.

Both Thane and Setsuna's reactions where identical when they saw the pictures. "Yikes…" "Woah…" it was pictures of the inside of the store, and it looked a right mess. Shelves where either torn to pieces or tipped over, the contents of their shelves stomped on or destroyed. However, the next few picture where interesting to the both of them. The meat section had been utterly destroyed, and from what the picture angel could see, half eaten raw meat was everywhere. "Ew…" "Meat?" Asakura nodded her head. "Yeah, I found that part odd as well… but look at the next picture and it should give you an idea of what might have happened." and indeed it did. The next picture, clearly the main focus of the shot was the deep depression in the stone work of the tile floor. Setsuna blinked a few times before some recognition started to set in. "are those…" Thane backed up for a second, making sure he was seeing it right. "Claw marks?"

Asakura put her camera away, nodding her head as she did. "Yup, I even double checked it myself. They were real claw marks." Thane and Setsuna glanced at each other, this mystery only growing more profound the more they learned. "Why in the world would claw marks be at the scene of a robbery?" Thane shook his head. "I'm not sure… maybe a bear got hungry or something and decided to go for some Angus? Or at least, I think it might be a bear…" Asakura nodded her head. "Yeah, that's what I thought too at first… until I found this thing in the grooves." Asakura reached into her bag and quickly pulled out a small Ziplock bag and showed it to them. It was small, but there was no denying what it was. "Silver… Animal fur?" Asakura handed it to Thane and shook her head. "Yeah. Silver fur. I don't know of any real bear with silver fur like that" Thane handed it off to Setsuna, hoping that she might have a better understanding of what it might be then him. "So… what? It's not a bear? Or perhaps it's a doped up Koala Bear gone psycho?"

"Funny, but no. Truth is Sensei, I'm not sure what it could be. But I know how I'm going to find out! Time to make some calls to the local zoo!" Setsuna handed it back to her classmate, a skeptical look in her eye as she did. "You think it might be an escaped animal? Wouldn't that be big news? they would have issued an alert on Campus if anything got in." "I don't know, but that's why I'm investigating now… so if you Don't mind, I need to head on, got to try to get to the bottom of this before anybody else steals it!" And like that, she was gone, her reporter spirit on fire as she did. The two remaining people stood there silent for a few more minutes before Thane said anything "So what do you think it really was Setsuna?" The swordsman simply shook her head, not sure what to think "Honestly? I'm not sure… I would think it _was_ an escaped animal… but I think that that might be pushing the envelope… what about you?"

"A werewolf"

Setsuna did a double take at his choice. "A… werewolf?" Thane nodded his head, some excitement in his eyes. "Yeah! It has to be! Did you happen to see the size of that gash in the stone? Bigger than my whole head! The meat was a dead giveaway." Setsuna raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Thane… I think you've been watching way too much T.V. recently." The assistant teacher blinked a few times before he huffed indigently at her words. "What do ya mean 'too much T.V'? It makes perfect sense!" "Yes, it makes sense, but you're missing one point here. Werewolves don't exist." There was a moment of silence between them both. Setsuna stoic while Thane was confused. "Huh?" The swordswoman sighed. "There are beast man and shape changers, but no werewolves. They don't exist. Contrary to common belief, most stories about the mythical werewolf originated from either Rabies or a hallucinogenic that got into crops and in turn into rye bread." Thane opened his mouth, then he closed his mouth. Then he started to stroke his chin in thought. "Wait a minute… so you're telling me that there are Vampires, Beastmen, fairies, Spirits, ghosts, and even Demons, but no Werewolves?"

"Yes." There was another moment of silence between the both of them before Thane threw his arms up. "That's ridiculous!" Setsuna wasn't one for the straight man job, but she did a good job at it. "This coming from the guy who's from another world…" The older male ignored her statement and simply shrugged his shoulders at her. "eh… whatever… But I think we should be getting along now. Time's wasting, and we can debate this later." Setsuna nodded her head in agreement and started to jog, Thane following closely behind him. Thane, however, took one more glance back, the odd feeling he had not vanishing as they moved away…

**Xx later xX**

"Man! Third years already! I am so looking forward to this!" Thane Glanced over at Yuna past the railing he was holding onto, a bit of a sarcastic smile on his face. "Yeah, hard to believe you guys managed to make it to this semester with the way you like to work." Yuna glanced over at Thane, the slight jumping of the tram silencing her for a moment longer before she spoke up "Oi, come on. You're supposed to be happy for us as a teacher." "And I am, in my own way" Thane simply chuckled as Yuna shook her head at his snarky reply. "Whatever…" Akira smiled over at Yuna, slightly chuckling "Don't worry Yuna, I'm sure Thane is happy for us. He just doesn't like to show it" The older male didn't grace her with an answer, but his slightly blushing face told them both that it was true.

The next few minutes where spent in silence between the three, the tram rolling along at its usual pace. There was a slight breeze from a little on down the cart, but nobody paid it much mind, well, except for the ones who had their Skirts blown up. Just as Thane was about to break the silence out of boredom, the sound of a familiar voice drew their attention down the way a little. "Hey Yuna! Akira! Thane-sensei!" Coming at them was the ever quiet Ako, only coming to a stop when she was right next to them. Thane raised his hand in greeting and smiled at her. "Hey Ako-san! Ready for the first day of the new semester?" The soccer captain nodded her head a little hesitantly. "I believe so" "Good good…" The conversation drifted between the other three, leaving Thane to stare at them for a little while before he turned his attention to the outdoors, watching the trees and buildings pass by almost lazily.

"Hey, did you guys hear about the break-in this morning?" That caught his attention, but Thane didn't say anything, instead opting to hear what they were going to say. Ako nodded her head, a worried look on her face. "Yeah, it was on the front page of the school newspaper. I didn't get to read it though" Yuna tilted her head quizzically. "You didn't? Well I did. Something about an animal having broken in and destroying everything. Apparently the store owner had some bite marks on his lower legs and deep lacerations." Thane turned his head, some slight shock making its way through. "Someone was hurt?" Yuna nodded her head. "Yeah, but not too badly… it's a pity really. That was one of my favorite stores too." The rest of the conversation started to get into speculation, but Thane wasn't paying it anymore attention, his mind now on other things. _'That's not good… this definitely needs to be looked into… if there is something on Campus that might start harming the students, then it's my job as a teacher to see what I can do about it… I'll talk with the Headmaster later.'_

"Oh! Almost there!" Thane was brought out of his thoughts when Yuna pointed out the station coming up. He quickly glanced at his cell phone clock and sighed out at the time. "8:10… looks like where running late, as per the norm around here." Yuna slapped him on the back, a large grin on her face. "Yup, same old same old eh? We just gotta run like we normally do right?" Thane grinned back and cricked his neck a few times in anticipation. "Of course." The rest of the students on the train did just as the two runners did, and that's get ready for the mad dash that would occur. The slowing was the indicator for on your mark. The total stop was the get set. The moment the door was opened, Thane yelled out "GO!"

**Xx later xX**

Thane gave Yuna an annoyed look as they walked up the steps to the class. "You so cheated on that last turn." "I did no such thing!" Thane rolled his eyes at her, moving up the last step and waiting for the other three to walk the rest of the way. "Oh, and I suppose that a small rag flying from your hand and smacking me in the face wouldn't be considered cheating then?" "Hey! I have a loose hold on things!" "Yeah right…" Akira came between the two and smiled at them both. "Now now you two, where almost there, so let's discuss it later." The both of them replied simultaneously with an almost mocking tone. "Yes Mother." Thane took a few steps forward, getting to the door before the rest of them and holding it open for most of the people present, which was about the whole class. After saying hello to everyone who passed through his door, Thane watched as the last person came up to him. "Morning Negi boy, ready for the start of the new semester?" The young lad nodded his head with enthusiasm. "Of course!" Thane grinned back and was about to usher him through before he noticed a small palanquin in his hands. "what's that?" "The new class plank. It goes right above the door here" Thane looked up and indeed, there was one right over his head reading _**:middle school class 2A:**_

Whereas the one in Negi's hands read 3A. Thane blinked a few times in some slight bemusement. "All the time coming to the class and never have I once seen that thing… it's a new year all right." Negi grinned at him before he cleared his throat. "By the way Thane, could I ask you to switch them out?" Thane looked down at the boy and nodded his head. "Sure! Just hand it here and I'll get right to it." Thankfully, Thane was considered one of the tallest people in class, so it was really easy for him to switch them out, and after that, Both of the teachers made their way inside, where they were greeted with a loud and cheerful. "Third year! 3A!" **"GOOD MORNING SENSEI!"** Thane took his position next to the desk with a smile while Negi scratched the back of his head sheepishly at the morning vigor. "Good morning everyone! My name is Negi Springfield, and from here until March of next year, I will be your Homeroom teacher."

Thane noticed the look Negi was giving him and got the message, giving a short bow to them all. "And My name is Thane Mastizetai, and from here until March, I will also be assisting Negi-sensei as the Assistant teacher of Class 3A." "We hope that it will be just as much a pleasure learning from us as it will be for us to teach you" The class quickly responded in what Thane had come to associate with the Norm of Class 3A, and that was loud and cheerful. "Yes Sensei! We hope so as well!" Thane smiled wide at them as he observed the usual class get down into its routine of chatting with each other before Negi started his usual lesson. Both males observed the class for a moment, each of their thoughts flowing along the lines of meeting and greeting and wondering what the new term was going to bring. However, Negi felt a sharp shiver run up his spine. _'Huh… what's this cold feeling I'm getting…' _He could feel it literally being needled into him from the front, almost as a pointed object and quickly turned his head in the direction that he felt.

He felt it coming from the back of the class, and directly from Evangeline. He felt yet another shiver run up his spine and quickly proceeded to look at his student roster. Thane, noticing the boys discomfort, looked out at the class and in the same direction. He also saw Eva, but not with the pointed glare. Thinking that she may have been looking at him, Thane smiled at her and gave her a small wave. But instead of a greeting back, he got a small blush out of her as she turned away. _'Aw… she's embarrassed. That's so cute.' _The class proceeded only for a moment longer before the sound of a knocking door diverted the entirety of the class's attention. The door opened up and revealed the ever beautiful and ever buxom Shizuna in the door way, her hand still in its curled shape from when she was knocking. Thane was the first to register her. "Good morning Shizuna-Sensei, what brings you here?" She glanced at the two teachers and gave them a nod of her head. "Good morning Negi-sensei, Thane-sensei. I'm currently making my round's to inform all the classes that today is the day for the school health checkup. So go ahead and get everyone in class 3-A prepared accordingly."

Thane and Negi nodded their head in understanding, The both of them feeling a little nervous that they had missed the memo on it. "Oh right! I forgot about that!" "Understood Shizuna-sensei!" Negi started to flap his arms hurriedly, as if doing so might make up for his forgetfulness. "Uh… Right! You heard her everybody! Today's health checkup day … uh… so… Go ahead and remove your clothes and strut your stuff!" Thane was about to say something before the **full** implication of what Negi said hit him, causing him to turn to the child teacher, an amused grin that was shared with everyone in the class on his face. His only response was an amused chuckle as he slowly shook his head at the teacher. Negi also quickly noticed his own goof, mostly due to the giggles and blushing faces of the girls in the class. Negi quickly gathered his staff and pretty much hauled ass out the door in embarrassment, the class hollering at him with things like, "Negi-kun is such a pervert!" Or, "Ero-Negi!" "**I didn't mean it the way it sounded!"** Thane was now chuckling under his breath at the boys plight before he turned his attention back to the class. "Alright girls, play nice." and with that, he made his own way out of the room, but before he could, Shizuna stopped him.

"Ah, Thane-san, I would like to have a word with you in the hall, so if you wouldn't go too far, it would be greatly appreciated." Before he could say anything, many of the girls in the class proceeded to 'ohhhhhh' in amazement. "Ohh! Sensei is in trouble!" "Maybe he did something naughty!" "Molested one of the students!" "Sexual harassment!" "Got a girl pregnant!" Thane chose to ignore the comments coming from the peanut gallery and nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Alright Shizuna-sensei." Thane exited the door, the last few comments something along the line of burning down buildings and other such assorted crimes that he was sure he couldn't have had the time to do (Seriously? Robbing Fort Knox? He didn't even know what that was!). Thane noticed Negi and greeted him, the both of them simply listening to the student's gossiping and giggling about vampires before the health inspector came up. And as she entered, Shizuna came out, coming over to the both of them. "So what did you need Shizuna-san?" The teacher nodded her head and pulled out a small note, handing it to him. "This is for you, the headmaster told me to give it to you when I came by."

Thane took it from her hand and turned it over a few times, the only real noticeable part about the letter being the **:From Konoe: ** in the dead center. Negi glanced at the letter, his own childish curiosity coming into play. "What is it about?" Thane's only response was a shrug of his shoulders. He flipped it over and dug his fingernail under the lip and ripped the paper seal away, extracting the contents with hesitancy. He flipped that one over and opened it up, starting the reading

**:Dear Thane-kun. I would like for you to come to my office after your lesson today to discuss something of an important matter. Please do not delay in doing so.**

**From the Headmaster **

'_That can't be good…'_ Thane felt a bead of sweat run down his neck. This was a summons, and didn't sound like anything good. Negi took the paper from his hands and read it to himself for a moment before he handed it back. "So the headmaster wants to see you for some reason?" "I guess… Do you happen to know what for Shizuna-san?" The secretary only shook her head. "I'm afraid not. You'll just have to go and see Thane-san." Thane looked the letter over one more time, as if expecting something else to be there, but folded it up and put it away in his pocket, bringing his free hand to his chin in deep thought. _'What in the world could the Headmaster need me for? Am I in trouble for something?… no… that doesn't seem to be the case. I don't think I've done anything wrong… unless he wants to talk with me about the tampering of Eva's seal… then I might be in trouble, but I'm not sure, and I'm pretty sure I did that low key.'_ However, the thoughts where quickly dashed from his mind when the sound of indoor sneakers pounding down the hall caught the attention of everyone there. Thane turned to look and saw Ako running at them from down the hallway. "Sensei! Sensei! We've got a problem! It's Makie! She's… Makie is-!"

Before she could even complete her sentence, the doors and blinds to the class room opened quickly, forcing the three teachers to round on the student's within. "What happened to Makie!?" it took all of three seconds to register the half clothed student's, and Negi quickly started to blubber about. "Not looking! Not looking!" Thane admired the view for a moment before he decided to respect decency and turn around to avoid any mishaps later. "Jeez ladies, if you intend on putting on a peep show, you should at least make sure nobody else is around!" The girls quickly noted his words, slamming the windows and door closed followed by a great deal of scuffling and ruffling of clothes. Thane could have sworn he heard several of the girls say. "That's my shirt!" "Where'd my skirt go!?" "STOP TOUCHING THEM HARUNA!" While that was going on, Thane turned to Ako, worry on everyone's faces, though Negi was the first to react. "What happened Ako-san?" "Makie, she's in the infirmary!" Thane didn't hear anything else after that, he was already down the hall, running as quickly as he could.

'_Oh crap… does it have anything to do with the store this morning?!'_ Thoughts of Makie seriously hurt or worse flooded his mind, the memory of those long claw marks in the stone and the report of the owner being injured spurring him forward until he found the infirmary door. Thane grabbed the handle and savagely slide the door open with a slam yelling out "Makie!" Now where he was expecting to see Makie in serious condition or some other such situation, he instead was greeted with a face. Now it wouldn't have been anything unnatural, why, one could have guessed that the owner of the face was just leaving the infirmary, but what a face. To Thane, it was perhaps the scariest face he had ever seen. Pale as paper, hallow eyes, a very thin mouth, and to top it off, something that looked like cracks running down the side of his face. It just had an unearthly and terrifying vibe.

The first thing Thane did? Back pedal and scream like a little girl "WAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Thane fell back on his own two feet and landed on his rear. The scary faced fellow looked down for a second before he blinked in surprise, talking in a voice that sounded something like a hallow ghost. "Excuse me! Sorry about that, I hope you're not hurt or anything, I didn't mean to get in your way." Thane felt his eye twitch a few times in surprise before he slowly started to talk again. "Um… no… sorry, I kinda was the one who fell on his own butt… and you weren't in my way or… or anything… but uh… who are you?" The Pale man lightly conked his fist in his open palm as he remembered that he had yet to introduce himself. "Oh right! Sorry about that, I'll introduce myself as soon as I help you up." He quickly reached down, much like a creeping specter, and pulled Thane to his feet with little work. The man then smiled his kindest smile, but to Thane, he looked scary as hell when he did that.

"My name is Itsuhito Hadesu, Mahora's Middle school section Infirmary doctor. But you can call me Hades if you want." The man then held out his hand in greeting. Thane hesitantly brought his own hand up and clasped the mans in his own. "Um... the name is Thane Mastizetai… assistant teacher to Negi Springfield of the English division." The man's face lit up in delight at the name. "Ah! The rumored child teacher I've heard so much about! Well, it's a pleasure to meet you! And hopefully, I meet Negi-sensei soon enough." Thane withdrew his hand, but felt something cold and sticky on it, curious as to why this is, he held his hand up and examined it. He quickly noted that it appeared to be blood, and a hell of a lot of it. "AGH!" Thane recoiled in shock and terror, startling the other man. "Oh! What's wrong? Did-" He quickly noticed the same liquid on his own hands and lit up in realization, instantly bowing low "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to get any of it on you! I hope you're not offended!" Thane pointed to the man, his teeth chattering in terror. "w-w-w-w-w-w-w-what do you have blood on your hands for!? What have you been doing in here?!"

Hades quickly looked up, his eyes scrunched up in confusion. "Blood? You mean the Merbromin Fluid? I accidently spilled some earlier when they brought Sasaki-san in. I was just in the middle of cleaning it up before you had arrived." At the mention of the student, Thane quickly shook himself out of it. "Right! Makie! Is she alright!? What happened to her!" At that precise moment, the rest of the class quickly rounded the corner, however, quite a few of them skidded to a halt when they saw the Infirmary doctor standing in the hallway. "Wah!" "Holy Crap!" "Monster!" However, Ako quickly walked forward, pushing the man back through the door. "Hades-sensei! You know people are scared of your face! Don't spook them like that!" Thane could only watch in amazement as the girl didn't even flinch at the scary doctor, said doctor scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Right… forgive me Izumi-san…" The rest of the class took a few deep breaths to calm down their nerves. "Gosh… I forgot about Hades-sensei…" "That guy scares the crap out of me sometimes…"

Thane could only blink, his momentary lapse quickly righting itself and he pushed through the door with everybody else to check on the condition of their classmate. Hades, who had gone back to his desk and started peeling an apple (Thane found it scary how his hands seems to fit a knife just fine) noticed their concern and decided to indulge them the info they wanted. "She was found passed out on Sakura lane early this morning. When she was brought in, I did a through analysis on her, but found really nothing that was out of place, so I believe it might be some slight anemia. Also, she might want to consider wearing some leg braces, else she might put too much strain on her legs and cause problems down the road…" Thane, however, was simply relived that she appeared alright, as much as the rest of the class. "Phew… that's good to hear… so it really wasn't such a big deal after all" "But why did she pass out?"

As the rest of the class started to speculate, ranging anywhere from cool Sake to rays from Mars, Thane noticed that Negi had a serious look on his face. He observed the lad for a moment longer before he finally decided to ask. "Hey Negi… something wrong?" The welsh boy looked over at him and motioned for Thane to come closer. "Check her out for a moment Thane, tell me if you feel anything… odd about her." Though confused, Thane did what the boy asked, coming closer and examining Makie. It was then that he felt a faint… presence around her. He placed his hand on her face for a moment, turning her chin this way and that for a moment before he drew back. "That's odd… is that…" Negi completed that thought for him. "A magical signature? I believe so…" Thane was now even more confused, his thoughts drawing any number of conclusions.

'_A mage then? But what did he or she want? And why attack Makie of all people? Does this have anything to do with the grocery store attack this morning? The times match up… Makie was found this morning passed out and Sakura lane isn't that far from the scene… it could be connected.'_ Asuna, one who wasn't joining in the debates about Makie's supposed illness, ("Maybe Thane knocked her up! Could be why she collapsed!") noticed the two males staring at the girl. "Hey you two. Is something wrong? Why did you go all grim and quiet?" Negi and Thane both where knocked out of there revere and waved away Asuna's concern. "ah! Sorry Asuna-san!" "Oh, nothing, just wondering what she was doing out so early in the morning is all." Thane let Negi go into the explanation while the older male started to direct the rest of the class "Alright everybody, Makie appears fine, now time to get back to class." Though they weren't that compliant, the rest of 3-A did as they were told and slowly started to trudge their way out of the infirmary. It was only faint, but Thane swore he saw Hades slightly frown at all the people leaving. But the Man quickly got to his work, going through what appeared to be records and other such important documents. After herding the class out of the infirmary, Thane then turned his attention To Negi, getting the lads attention. "Hey Negi, I know that it might seem irresponsible as an assistant teacher, but I'm going to go ahead and see what it is that the Headmaster needs me for. For some reason, I feel that it might be important."

Negi glanced over at the older male and nodded his head "Sure, I won't mind. But I will need you to send me some of those lecture notes for tomorrow's lesson" Thane nodded his head as he passed by the boy, quickly exiting the door and heading on his way. Thankfully, the need for urgency helped him to make it to the Headmasters office without getting lost once, something he would have considered noteworthy, but the situation didn't allow for that. He quickly knocked on the large wooden doors, the booming of the echo sounding larger then he remembered it being. The faint sound of something shuffling from somewhere in the room left Thane curious, but the Headmasters voice quickly drove it out. "Come in! its open!" Thane quickly made his way in the room, silently closing the door behind him as he did. Thane was quick to note that other than the headmaster, there was no one else in the room. "Ah? Thane-kun? You're here earlier than expected." "I know, but I felt that the situation was too important to wait." The Headmaster raised his eyebrow in mild curiosity at that choice of words. "Oh? So you know why you're here?" Thane shook his head, taking a seat in one of the empty chairs. "In all honesty? No, I don't. But I feel I need to tell you about something I found today."

The Old man leaned forward in his chair, his mouth curved downward in a frown. "ah… I see then… I have a feeling it might be closely related to what I wanted to talk with you about. But hold your thought for a moment while I send for some of the other's involved." _'There are other involved in this?' _Thane didn't voice this and simply let Konoe call up a few people on his cell phone. It only took a few minutes, but the old man eventually got done and redirected his attention back to Thane. "Alright then Thane-kun… while we wait for the rest of them to get here, please tell me what it is you came here for, I want to see if it is truly what I think it is." Thane nodded his head in understanding and started. "Very well then. Early this morning, around 4:15 or 4:17 A.M, Sakurazaki-san and myself where engaged in jogging like we have been for the past few months. While we were out, we decided to take a different route as compared to the norm we normally do. This in of itself wasn't odd, however, when we got to the Restaurant and food market area of Campus, both she and I noticed something of a bad feeling in the air."

The Old man steppled his fingers together, something that Thane noticed he did a lot when he was thinking heavily, but he continued. "When we had gone to investigate, we came upon the scene of what appeared to be a break and entry. However, there was already a lot of people around and the local police where already present. Sakurazaki felt that the situation was under control, but I wanted to check and see what had happened, so I dragged her along to find out the situation. When we did get there, I noticed Gandolfini-san heading the investigation and tried to get some information out of him. That went unsuccessfully. So, we had decided to back off, but much to my own surprise, I managed to get more info out of a reliable source, one in which will not be mentioned if I can help it." _'Investigating the crime scene and removing evidence is a crime, and I'd rather not see Asakura go to jail for it.'_ "That is fine, continue if you would please."

Thane nodded his head. "Alright… after obtaining info, both Myself and Sakurazaki-san came to the conclusion that there was neither enough info to do anything about, or anything we could currently do, so we dropped it. However, not but several minutes ago, some new info came to me. Now weather it is related or not is debatable, but I feel it might have a connection. Apparently, at some unknown time this morning, Makie Sasaki was attacked by something, resulting in her being sent to the infirmary." At that, the Old man sat ram rod straight, Thane noticed the concern in his eyes and quickly put them to rest. "Don't worry, she appeared to be fine. There were no injuries to be had, however, I did notice, along with Negi bo… I mean, Springfield, that she had something of a weak magical aura about her. I felt that the two cases might have been related in some way…and that's all I know." The old man was quiet for a few minutes, his left hand tapping his desk in a one two tempo. A heavy silence seemed to make its way around the both of them until Konoe stood up and walked to the window. "I see… this info about one of the student's being attacked is new information to me… I Thank you for bringing it to light Thane-kun…but this has now become a more serious matter…"

Thane simply kept his mouth shut, his brain already starting to try linking things together. He stopped when the old man started talking again. "I called you here to discuss with you about the attack this morning on the store. Gandolfini-kun mentioned you in his report and how you wished to help, so I had been hoping that you might have some insight if we allowed you to investigate. Though not intentional, you have started to prove yourself a capable investigator." Thane bowed his head. "Thank you for the complement Headmaster, but I'm not sure it was investigating skills as it was dumb luck that gave me that info." "That is fine, and now that you have provided me with this info, this has jumped this investigation from green, to an immediate Yellow. If there is a chance of the student's being attacked, then this needs to be dealt with immediately." It was then that the door to the headmaster's office resounded with several knocks, forcing the both of them to look to the door. "It's open, enter." The large door opened quickly, allowing several people to walk in.

A few, Thane noticed, where people he recognized, but the rest where people he had never seen before. The first Familiar face he noticed was Gandolfini. _'No doubt because he knows what's going on better than the rest of us.'_ The next familiar face was one he hadn't seen for a while, Seruhiko. The effeminate man nodded his head at Thane in greeting. "Hello Thane-kun, fancy meeting you here!" "Likewise Seruhiko-Kun!" The next face he recognized was one he hadn't been expecting, and someone he waved at enthusiastically. "Nutmeg! Small world!" The girl hesitantly waved back, but was stopped by the tall blond girl next to her. From what he could see, she was a high schooler due to her uniform and had something of an arrogant look to her face. Thane also noticed a girl next to the blond one, she looked fidgety and somewhat nervous, so much in fact that he was afraid that the girl was going to be a ball of nerves on the floor in about 8 seconds. She looked to be in her second year of middle school, so Thane could guess that she must be around 13 or 12 years old. Her light pinkish hair was done up in two long pigtail's behind her head, making her seem like a more nervous Makie. Then there was one other person he hadn't seen before. From what Thane could see, the man had a portly disposition and had light blue hair, but the smile on his face told Thane that he was definitely a jovial fellow.

Konoe nodded his head at the newcomers and motioned for them to come over. "Glad you all could make it on such short notice." The blond one looked somewhat annoyed from what Thane could see, but he really couldn't fault her. She had probably still been in the middle of lessons. "Everyone, this is the otherworld resident making his stay here on Mahora. Thane-Kun, if you would please stand" Thane did as he was told and bowed to them. "Greetings everyone. My name is Thane Mastizetai. And as the headmaster has already mentioned, I am from another world and currently taking refugee here as an assistant teacher. Though, I'm pretty sure a few of you recognize who I am." He noticed a few people nod their heads, but after that, some of them stepped forward, the first being the portly man "Nice to meet you Thane-san! The name is Mitsuru Nijuin, I happen to be a teacher at the Co-ed pre-school division!" Thane took the man's large hand's in his own and shook them with a smile. "Nice to meet you Nijuin-san." The man took a few steps back, allowing the next person to take a step forward, which was the nervous pink. "He-hello…My name is… Sakura Mei… from the middle school division…" Thane nodded his head and left her alone, the darkened eight only know what would happen if he actually touched her.

The Blond, however, quickly got on the girls case. "Mei! You can't be timid in greetings! First impressions are everything!" Thane could only grin at the girls sudden jump and her trying to correct her mistake. "Uh! Um! I! Sorry! M-M-M-M-my Name is Sakura Mei! Nice to meet you Thane-san!" Thane chuckled to himself at her nervousness. "Likewise Sakura-san." Now it was the loud blonds turn, and she definitely made sure to be as notable as possible. "The name is Takane D. Goodman! I am a student of the Saint Ursula High school division of Mahora and a Campion of the weak!" Now this kind of Girl Thane couldn't help but laugh at, her own exuberance being somewhat contagious. "Ha ha! Nice to meet you Goodman-san! You sure are a strong spirited one aren't you?" The girl nodded her head pridefully, as if it was a complement.

Konoe lightly chuckled to himself before he drew everyone's attention to himself. "Now That we have all been reacquainted, It's time to get to the reason we are here. Earlier this morning, one of the campus grocery stores had been attacked. At first, we had believed it a simple break in and sent the campus police to take care of the situation, however, the situation changed when the store owner started to scream and shout things about it not being human and a massive shadow. At that point, The mage's where then sent in. Gandolfini, I believe you are head of the magical branch of defense on Mahora, could you tell us what you found in your search?" The dark skinned mage nodded his head and stepped forward, drawing everybody's attention to him. "As the headmaster said, at first we had simply believed it a break and entry, but the longer the man was on the phone, the more frantic he got. The specific words that sent us mages in where, 'massive shadow, large as a bear and eating all my meat.' At that point, we could no longer simply guess it was a random burglary, and then we were sent in. However, too little too late. By the time myself and a few other's got there, the culprit was gone and the store in shambles. The owner himself, in the few minutes we had ceased contact with him, had apparently taken it upon himself to try to fight the unknown and in the process obtained several bite marks and deep lacerations." Gandolfini held up a small orb and chanted a small spell under his breath, causing it to glow and producing several pictures to be seen. Many of them where the same as what Thane had seen from Asakura's camera, but the newer ones displayed a man in his later 40's deep cuts on his chest and face and large bite marks on his right arm, left leg and right leg. Mei and Natsumi cringed at the sight while Takane scowled. Seruhiko and Nijuan where silent, but their faces where worried.

Thane, however, spoke out "Those look like the bite marks of a Calgast. Did you check the man for poison?" Gandolfini looked him over a few times before he answered. "Yes, he was checked for poison and he turned out clean. However I'm afraid I've never heard of a Calgast, I take it it's something from your world?" "Yes, it's a natural beast, so any magical wards set up to detect demons wouldn't have worked. It would certainly fit the description, Large, attacking a person who got in the way of its food. But since you didn't find poison, that rules it out… that and this isn't my world." The man nodded his head at the explanation "Interesting… but the man checked out clean for poison and other such chemical's in his body. However, there is one thing we managed to glen from the injuries. And that's the fact that the saliva found in them was missing a certain enzyme found in Omnivores and herbivores… amylase." Takane's eyes went wide "So it's a carnivores magical beast?" "We're not ruling anything out yet, but it's the highest possibility as of right now" Thane spoke up after a moment of thought, something on his mind. "This happened early in the morning correct?" The dark mage nodded his head in answer. "Then I also have something to add. Around 4 this morning, a student of mine was found unconscious near Sakura lane. Apparently, she had been attacked by something, but she didn't suffer any injuries like the older man did. However, I believe the two cases aren't coincidence. The places are close together, so distance isn't a problem. However, the thing that confuses me is the fact that the old man was attacked and Makie was not."

Konoe nodded his head at the thought. "Yes, it is interesting… but we should be thankful that no one else was injured." Thane nodded once at the man's words. "True enough. That is something to be grateful for." However, Takane started to stamp her foot in anger. "Damn! Something else threatens the peace of Mahora's daily life?! First the barrier goes down a few days ago and then this new assailant shows up soon after!? It has to be connected! There must be some grand master scheme going on!" However, where everybody was debating the possibility of an attack against Mahora, Thane was busy sweating bullets and trying to make himself appear very very small. All while whistling to himself. However, the headmaster shook his head at the idea, "I don't believe those two incident are related, but, this new assailant may have slipped in while the barrier was down. Regardless of what may or may not have happened, this needs to be resolved immediately. We cannot risk anymore of the campus residents being injured." Everybody, including Thane, nodded their head and responded with a unanimous, "Understood." The Headmaster nodded his head once before he sat back down at his desk, "Good. Now this is what is going to happen. You 7 will be sent in to investigate who or what this assailant is, and until then, all your recent activities and assignments are suspended until otherwise noted. Understood?" "Clearly Headmaster." Thane, however, raised his hand in a question, "Pardon me Headmaster…" "Yes Thane-kun?" The pale youth lowered his hand and started to stroke his lower jaw in thought, "Not that I won't help out if necessary, but why am I being involved in this case? Shouldn't this be left to the home team? Why include me?"

Gandolfini also nodded his head at the pointed statement, "I would also ask as to why this is Headmaster. Other then this small amount of info he provided, I don't see how he could be of much help in the investigation." Konoe smiled to himself under his beard before he gave them an answer, "I believe Thane-kun can provide insight when the need arises Gandolfini, he can give you an outsiders look on things. And if my memory serves me correctly, I believe you are a mage in your own right Thane-kun?" The youth simply nodded once in answer. "Good. Plus, it never hurts to have too many people on a case Gandolfini-kun. Since we still have no idea what we could be dealing with, it is best if we try to approach it from all angels." The dark skinned mage though about it for a moment longer before he nodded in agreement, "Alright, I can see your point." "Good. Gandolfini, since you are in charge of the magical defense of the academy, you're in charge. Catch this individual and stop it before it can bring harm to anyone else. Other than that, you are all dismissed."

Everybody bowed to the old man, leaving just as they had come. Thane got up from his seat and followed behind everyone else, but was surprised to see that everyone was standing in the hall when he opened the door, and they were looking at him. Thane closed the door behind him and stared out at the faces of the rest of the crowd. "Yes?" Gandolfini was the first to walk up. He quickly drew his hand from his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper, handing it to a confused Thane. "Here's where our base of operations will be. Open it, memorize it, destroy the paper when you're done. We will be meeting at that location at 18:15 hundred hours. Everybody but you knows the location, so if you can't find it, give one of us a call. Our numbers are on the back." Thane quickly flipped it over and notice the six numbers of his team mates and whipped out his cell, getting all the numbers on his phone. By the time he was done, the only person who was still around was Seruhiko. Seruhiko was the first to initiate conversation, a smile on his face as he did. "It's nice to see you again Thane-san. Other than the teachers' lounge, I believe the last time we talked was when I brought you to this very office." Thane blinked a few times before he suddenly remembered, "Oh right! Has it really been that long since we last talked?" The Bishonen teacher simply shook his head with a smile, "It's alright, with you getting used to the campus and the being flung right into the teaching position, I doubt you've had a lot of thought for much of anything else." Thane could only agree internally with that statement. With all the stuff having been happening over the last few months, he had very little time to even converse with one of the men who had pulled him out of the tangled roots of the World tree.

"Sorry about that. Well… since we have time… wait, what time did he say we would need to meet at?" The Bishonen lightly laughed to himself at the youths mistake. "Gandolfini-san said at 18:15 hundred hours. That's 6:15 P.M. plenty of time to find where we need to go" "Ahhh… alright… so, perhaps we should talk for a little bit before then?" Seruhiko stared for a moment before he nodded his head once "That sounds fine with me, But I hope you don't mind, but I left my own class in a hurry so I need to head back and inform them of what's happening." Thane blinked in surprise at that info, "You're also a teacher Seruhiko-san?" "Yes, Part of the middle school girls section actually." "Really? You must get a lot of flak from your students then." The man shook his head at the statement. "Not really, they are actually quite nice. They always leave me letters and flowers on my desk at the start of the day and they always pay attention to my classes." Thane felt a slight tick in his eye while a sudden urge to smash the man's face in for any and all unfortunate men everywhere. He wasn't sure where that one came from though, "Ah… I see… well, I suppose I'll meet you a little bit later then. I also need to go inform Negi and the class that I'll be missing for the rest of the day." the two teachers parted ways, agreeing to meet on the steps outside the building when they were done. It took him a little bit, since it wasn't as urgent, but Thane managed to make it to Class 3-A by the time the lunch bell rang.

He opened the door just as most of the girls were starting to pull their own lunches out or heading to other areas of the school to dine. One such person was the first individual he needed to talk with. "Ah! Negi! Can I have a word with you before you head out?" The young welsh boy tilted his head in curiosity before he replied with an "of course." Thane came close and bent down close to the boy so that they wouldn't have to talk loudly, "Hey there. Got some bad news and good news. I'll start with the good news. I happen to have those notes you needed for tomorrows lessons. Bad news is, I'm not going to be able to help you teach for a little while." Negi looked up at the youth, confusion on his face, "Why? Is something wrong?" "Yes, but not with me… I'm going to be helping some people out with an investigation of sorts for some time, the operation will start tonight, and I'm not sure when we will get done" Negi nodded his head gravely. "I see…does this have anything to do with what happened to Makie-san?" "Somewhat, we will be looking into it from all angels." Negi was silent for a moment, the only noise's being made the ones the girls were making in eating and talking. "Alright then…I understand, I'll go ahead and inform everybody at the end of class." Thane stood up and nodded at him, "alright, thanks. I'll be giving advanced notice to Yuna and Akira however."

The young Welsh simply nodded in understanding before he got his own lunch out. Thane looked out into the classroom, finding the athlete group and zeroing in on them. "Hey you three, how's it going?" Yuna, who had already brought her chopsticks out, looked back over her shoulder and gave Thane a wave, "Hey there! Pretty good!" Akira looked up at him from her seat, some worry on her face. "We're fine, but what about you? What did Shizuna want to talk with you about?" Thane held his hand up and waved it a few times lazily, "Just sending me a letter that the Headmaster wanted me to read is all" This caught their attention, and Ako voiced the curiosity on their minds, "what did the letter say?" "That the headmaster wanted to see me immediately." Yuna turned in her chair, his plain avoidance of the actual question starting to irritate her, "Well what did _he_ say then?" Thane smiled to himself, getting his little gip out of her for the day, "It was mostly teacher stuff. He had heard about Makie and wanted to know if she was seriously hurt. I told him what the doc told us. She simply collapsed." Thane felt a slight cringe on the inside for lying to them again even after he had promised to be more honest with them. _'I am being more honest… I'm just slightly twisting it around a little bit so as not to mention the bit about magic and dark monsters harming students.'_

The three athletes nodded their heads at the mention of their friend, Yuna dangling the egg roll in her chopsticks for a moment, "Ah… that's good to know." Thane crossed his arms at the look of relief on their faces, "Yes, but now for the real reason I came over. Yuna, Akira, I'm more than likely going to come home very late tonight, maybe even the next morning. I just wanted you to know so that you don't have to make food for me tonight." Yuna and Akira glanced at each other, and then to the older youth in suspicion. "What are you talking about? Why won't you be coming home tonight?" Thane bit his lower lip, this is when he would have to lie again, but there would be no harm in adding a little of the truth would there? "I'm needed for an investigation." The two girls faces changed from suspicious to surprised, "An investigation? What for?" "Truth is, you remember that thing you read in the paper this morning? Well, when I was on my morning walk, I happened to come across the scene. They want to bring me in and ask several questions about it. See if I noticed anything out of the ordinary." The two girls blinked a few times before the both of them glanced back at each other, "Well…" "Alright, but send us a text when you get done alright? Even if it is at 1 in the morning." Thane grinned back at the both of them, "Got it. I'll be off then, see you both later." Thane waved the three girls off before he slipped out the door, several of the girls curious on his entry and then sudden exit. Thane quickly made his way to the lower levels where he was going to meet Seruhiko before he accidently ran into someone on the way down the hall.

"Woah!" "AH!" Thane quickly sidestepped, but ended up smashing into the wall with his shoulder and falling flat on his butt. "Ouch! What the heck!" "AH! sorry Thane-sensei!" The assistant teacher looked up and was surprised to see Misa standing over him with the other two cheerleaders in tow. Thane quickly made his way to his feet and dusted himself off, "Oh, no problem! Totally my fault there!" He gave the girls a reassuring smile, only just now noticing a few odd things about them. "Hey… are you alright Misa-san? You look kinda out of it." As far as he could tell, she had some light circles under her eyes and she looked tired. The flirt, however, waved his concern away "It's alright, just had some troubled dreams last night is all. But where are you off to in a hurry?" "Out for a bit." Sakurako titled her head in curiosity, "Where to?" Thane turned his attention to her and held his finger up to his lip, "That's a secret, but I can say it's part of my teaching job." The other two were about to inquire further, but Madoka stepped forward to silence them both, "Come on you two, he doesn't need to be asked so many questions. Sorry Sensei, you were in a hurry right?" "A little. But don't worry about it. I hope you don't mind, but I do have to run, see you three later!" The three girls waved him off as he ran down the stairs, his mind on what he had just seen, _'she sure looked tired, especially since I just saw her yesterday. She looked full of vigor then… maybe they just partied too hard? I'll have to talk with her about that later.'_

After a few more minutes of making his way to the lower level, Thane was surprised to see the lobby full of girls, all of them attempting to get to the door in girlish squeals, "Sensei!" "Is class being cut early?!" Much to the surprise of the youth, standing in front of the crowd, his arms loaded with flowers, was Seruhiko, "Yes girls, I'm afraid that class will be cut short today. I have several important duties that I have to attend to." The many girls started to groan out in disappointment, causing Seruhiko to shake his head, "Don't worry, classes will resume very soon." The many hopeful looks that Thane could see was telling him that the girls were more interested in seeing the Bishi teacher rather than the lessons resuming, once again causing a feeling of wanting to smack the man around a little to grow in his chest. Thane quickly shook his head to dispel the thought before he called out to the man, "Ah-ha! Here you are Seruhiko-san! Sorry if I'm a little late!" The sound of Thane's voice caused the girl's to stop and turn to face him, allowing Seruhiko to finally bring his attention to beyond the students, "Ah! Thane-san! No, don't worry, you're not late at all! I was just saying farewell to my students before I left." Thane walked past the female body of students, but when he managed to get past all of them and next to the male teacher, it felt as if the ice of the coldest netherworld was on his back. He dared not turn around, knowing just where it was coming from. The thoughts of Seruhiko's class were so strong that he actually started to _hear_ some of those thoughts, _**'who is this bastard?' 'what relation does he have to Seruhiko-sensei?' 'has he come to steal him away from us?' 'I'll rip his intestines out and hang him by them, then proceed to set his body aflame and then dance around it while singing a merry tune…' **_ That last thought actually scared him, _'holy shit… some of them sound screwed up…'_

The oblivious Bishi, smiling at Thane, waved his hand out behind him, "This is actually a good opportunity to meet my class Thane-san! Would you like me to introduce you to them?"Thane shuddered at the thought, "Um… he he… as interesting as it would be Seruhiko-san, I _reaaaaaaaaaalllllly_ think we should get going… you know, job to do, meeting to attend! All that teacher stuff!" before the teacher could protest to the idea, Thane was already dragging him through the door, the hellish glares behind him only vanishing when they got out of the line of sight. When they finally did manage to get out the door and away a distance, it quickly occurred to Thane that he had neither planned for the situation nor prepared for anything. The youth started to stroke his chin in thought, "Huh… so…Seruhiko-san… since it's a few hours until the eventual meeting, what do you suppose we should do until then?" The teacher thought about it for a moment before he lit up in sudden realization, "AH! What would you say to lunch Thane-san? I haven't eaten yet and I'm pretty sure you haven't as well." Thane glanced at the teacher and nodded his head, "Sure, sounds like a plan." as the both of them where ready to leave, a sudden memory came to Mind for Thane _'I promise to hang out with you all day tomorrow Sayo-chan!'_ He quickly looked up at the window where he knew class 3-A was and saw Sayo looking out the window, a depressed aura around her as she did. Thane felt a wrenching in his gut, but quickly shook his head and raised his hand to signal her to come along. The ghost girl blinked a few times before she raised her hand and pointed to herself, and then to Him. Thane nodded his head vigorously, wanting her to come along. The ghost quickly went from depressed too nervous as she glanced in toward the class and then to outside. Thane waved at her again, indicating for her to hurry up. Sayo bit her lower lip before she glanced back in the classroom, an unnoticed sigh trailing out of her mouth, "Well… Nobody notices me anyway…" The ghost quickly pulled herself from her desk and flew out the window, gently floating on down to Thane.

Seruhiko had noticed Thane waving and looked up at the Window, noticing the place he was waving at, "Ah, saying goodbye to one of the students?" Thane glanced over at the man and shrugged his shoulders, "Something like that. Now let's go" Seruhiko took the lead while Thane kept a small distance back, Sayo hovering close to his head and whispering into his ear "Hi Sensei, what are you doing out here?" "Getting ready for some teacher stuff actually." Sayo tilted her head in confusion, the question already forming on her lips. Thane however, had heard it three times already today, so he knew what was coming "I'm needed in order to help out with a crime scene investigation." However, where he was expecting a curious look, she instead lit up in realization, "Oh! That thing from this morning?" Thane nodded his head to confirm her question "Yeah, did you hear about it from all the gossip going on?" "Somewhat. I actually saw the scene this morning." Thane titled his head at the ghost, the question on his mind forming in his mouth "You did? What where you doing out at that hour for?" Sayo tilted her head for a moment, trying to remember the particular reason for leaving the classroom. Sayo then suddenly lit up in remembrance, "Oh yes! It was because something felt off somewhere, like… well… like when you sometimes have those gut feelings that someone or something is following you but you have to check it out anyway." Thane tilted his head at her, her words making sense "I see… so did you find out what that feeling was?" The ghost only shook her head, "No. It ended up vanishing after a while. but soon after I found the crime scene." "I see… did you perhaps see anything interesting while you were about?"

The ghost shook her head, her hair swaying back and forth in rhythm with her shakes "No…Not really… unless that collage couple I saw counts." Thane raised his eyebrow in some mild curiosity, "Couple?" "Yeah, a boy and a girl… they were having some fun hugging and kissing and all that. I left as it started to get under the clothes though." Thane nodded his head slowly, Sayo's ghostly traits causing him to think a little harder on the ghost herself and what could potentially be the best voyeurism ability in the world. However, the long walk from the school building to the café area of Campus forced him to put the thoughts away for another time. Eventually, Seruhiko found a decent coffee shop, allowing the two (plus one unnoticed ghost) males to sit and relax. They both sat like this, conversing lightly for a period of time before the Bi-Shonen teacher eventually brought his questions around to Thane's work "So Tell me Thane-kun, how has your recent job as Negi-kun's assistant been going?" Thane simply shrugged his shoulders before he took a sip from his coffee cup, "Fairly well. Minus one or two little hiccups along the way, I'd say I'm doing rather well as his assistant." "I see! That is good to hear! But what about Negi-kun Himself? How is he holding up? I know it must be tough for a ten year old to teach a class of budding teenage girls." Thane snorted to himself in humor as he took another sip of coffee. He had really started to grow found of the stuff since he came to earth. "Tough? Poor kid's gonna need to grow up a few more years before all the teasing the girls do to him finally starts to wear off."

Both individuals started to chuckle to themselves at the poor boys plight. But like all things, Thane knew that it was going to be one of the many hurdles he would have to face in his life. Thane glanced over to his side and noticed Sayo was busy observing one of the many waiter Girls who worked here. Thane gazed at the waiter herself for a moment in hopes he might see what Sayo was so interested in, but he brought his attention back to the Teacher across from him, a more serious tone in his voice, "So tell me Seruhiko-san… How do you think Negi will hold up in the next few years as a Teacher? Truth be told… I kinda want him to quite this particular assignment." Seruhiko glanced over at his collage with a question in his eyes, "Why is that Thane-kun?" "Don't get me wrong, if this is what he wants for his life, then it's his choice and I will respect that decision and help him achieve that Goal… But in all Honesty, I don't want him to grow up with nothing but work on his plate. I want him to, for lack of a better term, act his age. Be a Kid, have fun, get into trouble, do things that a normal ten year old should do…" Thane looked a little past the teacher, his thoughts both heavy and melancholy, something the experienced teacher noticed quite easily, "I Admit, in some ways, I feel the same as you. But I feel there might be more to it than just Negi. Does this by chance have anything to do with your own children Thane-kun?" The pale teacher hummed a little to himself before he let out a sigh, "I suppose so…" "Do you perhaps want to talk about it? Other than myself, the shop is empty, so you could tell me if you wanted." Thane took a moment before he gazed around the shop, the other teachers words ringing true. Thane sat there for a moment, his thoughts wiggling around like a writhing snake before he consigned himself to it, "I think it would help to a degree… By the way Seruhiko? You're way to sharp."

The other teacher only nodded his head once in acknowledgement before Thane leaned back into his chair and let out a wispy sigh, "I suppose it would be best if I said that it has less to do with me and more to do with my children and their own circumstances…" Seruhiko leaned back into his chair and listened intently as the youth began, "My children… are… special in a way. They are strong, stronger than what one should be at such a tender age and due to this, they were regarded as…'top class level E entities'… In other words, dangerous." Thane glanced down at the table for a moment, his eyes blinking a few times while the silence between them both lingered. Eventually, Thane looked back up, his eyes set to be as emotionless as possible, "As you might figure from that, they weren't treated normally, having to be locked up and forced to stay in a cold and pitiless place… 'for their own safety.' A.K.A so that they didn't turn against their captors… Not long afterward, a massive war had broken out on Estoria, one that threatened to destroy my home and the very world itself… My kids where brought in to help deal with the threat… an 8 year old shouldn't have to go to war you know, no child needs to see the atrocities of war and the worst it will bring out in people…" Seruhiko had actually flinched at the age. That was young, far too young for anybody to be going into full on combat. "I… was their guardian at the time, in charge of their living places and their wellbeing… at first, I hadn't really questioned how they were living. They were being fed, taken care of, never where treated cruelly… but they didn't have what a child needs… Love and comfort from a parent… each one had their own story before coming to the lab, but even before then, they didn't have anybody who would love them… I wanted to change that for them after one battle when Dark had been gravely injured."

Seruhiko nodded his head once, he was certain that he himself would have tried to change such circumstances if he had the opportunity. "I started to treat them with kindness, to show them affection and the simple act of human decency… they were cold to me at first, unable to trust one of the scientists who had confined them… but I started to get through to them…" Seruhiko noticed a genuine loving smile on Thane's face as he stared into space "Before I had even realized it, I had started to treat them like they were my own siblings, and in turn, they had started to call me… Brother, or even 'Dad' on occasion… I was happy when they did, but at the same time, it would tear me in two from all the guilt. They may have had one friend, but at such a young age, they needed far more than one loving parent, they needed friends, others around them who could give them emotional comfort and stability. But they couldn't have it, not while they lived at the facility… eventually, someone ended the war and I believed that they would have the chance to gain more freedom, to be able to go out and about to enjoy the rest of their Childhood… it didn't happen though…" "Why is that?" Thane looked over at Seruhiko before he let out a sigh, "Because they had grown far too strong. The war had allowed them to grow in their abilities to fight, made them stronger and more of a threat to their captors… At that point, I had had enough of it, and when the civil war broke out in my country, I put them to sleep and brought them with me so that they wouldn't be forced to kill again…" A moment of silence passed between them both, one deep in thought while the other was thinking on the words spoken.

Sayo had come back over and had listened, though she didn't have any words to say to such a serious situation, so she opted to float next to Thane while giving him a sympathetic look. Seruhiko nodded his head after a moment and spoke up, his own thoughts circling around in his mind, "I see… I suppose I can understand some of your feelings… but at the same time, I also can't see how that might relate to Negi-kun." Thane glanced back up before he chuckled nervously, "Eh he… sorry, I suppose I went off on a little rant there… the main point is that I see Negi as something akin to a little brother, even as my own child at times. I see him as such very often, However, I feel a pang of guilt when he tries so hard at such a young age when he should be enjoying his youth a little more, while being proud at the same time for his achievements… is that being a Hypocrite I wonder?" "Not really, it's only natural to feel as such when one see's someone they care about achieving such things." Both Thane and Seruhiko lightly jumped from the surprise voice, causing the both of them to turn to their side and notice for the first time an older gentleman with an unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth. Thane was the first to recover his voice, but not his composure, "T-t-Takamichi! What… how long have you been standing there?! Hell, how much did you hear!?" The older man chuckled to himself before he pocketed his lung killer back in its case, "Hum…let's see… about the part where you said _'I suppose…'_ " Seruhiko chuckled to himself as he recounted the conversation, "I'm pretty sure that was at the start." Thane felt his face flush from sudden embarrassment, that fact that someone else had heard it when he wasn't expecting made him feel rather stupid, "Why didn't I notice you there…"

The older man pulled up a seat and chuckled to himself as he sat down, "I can be noticed if I want to be Thane-san. But forgive me if you had intended for it to be private." "No… it's alright Takamichi-san…It's just embarrassing is all, I let few people know about me as much as possible. I might have told you at another date… but what's done is done." Seruhiko sat up in his chair and took a sip of his coffee, "So Takahata-san, what are you doing here?" "I just got back from a job right now actually. However, where I was hoping to take a little break and rest my old bones, I hear that there has been a problem since I was away?" Thane nodded his head, his face taking a more serious tone, "Yes, apparently something on campus is causing the students harm. Myself and Seruhiko are part of a group that will be dealing with it. I'm hoping that we can resolve this by the end of tonight though, Yuna and Akira get antsy when I don't inform them of my mid-night ventures." Takahata nodded once before he also ordered something, Black coffee from the looks of it. Takahata took a sip from his mug before he spoke, "So… what can you two tell me of the situation? I may not be on the case, but perhaps I can offer friendly input." Thane sat back and let Seruhiko relate all the info they had on the current situation, his own attention being brought back to Sayo as she floated back to his side. Thane quickly noted that Sayo's expression was one of mild curiosity, her bright eyes eager to know something. Thane flicked his eyes to the general direction of the two men and then back to the girl, clearing his throat loudly "Um…sorry you two, I'll be right back. Restroom and all." Both teachers nodded their heads in understanding before they went back to discussing the current situation.

Thane subtly motioned for Sayo to follow him, in which she did and the both of them eventually disappeared into the building. Thane looked around for a moment before he did find the men's restroom "Come on…" However, where he was expecting the ghost to follow, she instead was blushing silver and fidgeting a little bit on the spot. Thane noticed her expression and gave her a puzzled look, "What is it?" "Um… that's the men's room…" Thane's puzzlement only deepened "Yes? And your point is?" "I'm a **girl**! I can't go into the men's room!" Thane blinked a few times in confusion before the implications of her words hit him, "Oh… wait… You're a _ghost_! Nobody is going to care where you go!" "But what if people see me?!" "As far as I remember, _I'm_ the only one who can! Nobody is going to see you in there!" Sayo blushed heavily, her hand pointed toward the pale youth "_You'll_ see me!" "Oh for the love of… we are just going in there to talk! I'm not going to make you strip down to nothing and use the bathroom in front of me while I video tape you!" There was a moment of silence before Sayo gave him something of a suspicious stare, "That was kinda detailed…" "Oh just hush up and come on! That woman over there at the counter is already starting to think I'm bat shit crazy!" Said woman had quickly turned her attention to something else in the room so as to avoid the gaze of the crazy, if not highly intuitive young man talking to himself. Sayo, however, did not react and still seemed hesitant to follow through with the order. Thane, however, did not have a very long fuse today, and quickly grabbed her hand and started to drag her into the room with her. The girl struggled at first, however, she quickly grew tired after a moment of trying to pry away from him and simply resigned herself to her fate. After the two of them passed through the door, Thane took a moment to see if anybody else was in the restroom. Happy to see that there wasn't, he let go of Sayo's hand and turned to her. She was rather nervous, and a little wide eyed at the new prospect of unexplored territory.

"Huh… a lot more normal then I was expecting…" Thana was curious at what she thought it was going to be, but he decided not to ask. However, her words of nervousness from earlier got him thinking some evil thoughts. He then pointed one of the stalls and gave her a look. "Alright, now get in there. We got work to do!" The girl brought her attention to Thane and gave him a confused look "Huh? What are you talking-" However, Thane cut her off when he unzipped his pants, instant realization coming onto her face and making her go a deep silver "AHHHH! You, me, that, stall, stuff!?" her arms started to wave wildly around in embarrassment and panic while her face couldn't go any more shades of silver. However, Thane simply started to laugh at her "ah ha ha ha ha ha! Oh god you are so funny right now!" The girl stopped for a moment at his words, a great deal of confusion at his laughter on it. "What?" "I was only kidding Sayo! No need to get so worked up! Though it was still funny." Sayo didn't come to realize the joke until about 6 seconds later, where her face turned into one of embarrassed anger "You! You pervert! You got me worked up over something so … so… stupid!" Thane chuckled to himself again when he saw her expression, "I won't deny the pervert part… However, It was all simply in good fun Sayo. I didn't mean to cause you undue grief over it though. Forgive me for getting you worked up."

However, the ghost Girl simply glared at him, her righteous anger at his attempted humor still playing out in her face. Thane let out a sigh, his boyish humor obviously not having the same effect as if he had told it to another of his gender "*Sigh* I'm sorry Sayo, that was in bad taste. I hadn't meant anything by my joke and it had not been directed to insinuate anything on your or my behalf. Again, I am very sorry for upsetting you." The girl simply glared at him a moment longer, his perversion still playing on her mind before she got a good look at his sorry face. She felt somewhat guilty for giving him the silent treatment, but even she knew that a joke could go too far sometimes, and his insinuated rape joke hadn't made her feel very comfortable at all. Thane, who was also starting to feel pretty bad about the whole thing started to scratch his cheek in shame. This silence went on for another few seconds before a sudden thought came into his mind. One in which he acted on. Thane reached up next to Sayo's confused face and cradled her head in his hand before he reached up and lightly pinched her earlobes between his middle finger and thumb, tugging on them "I'm sorry." Sayo was slightly surprised by his sudden action, but felt the tugging on her ears and was introduced to a new tingling sensation, it was a little painful, but it also felt… ticklish to her. Sayo tried to act a little angrier, but she found that she couldn't and started to giggle to herself, "he he he… that's funny… what is this though?" Thane smiled at her before he removed his hands and placed them back at his sides, "A little trick I would do with my kids if I ever did something stupid. I call it the magic ear trick, they like to call it the sympathy tactic though… Can't fault them for the name though, it fits." "I see… and Thane-sensei? I'm sorry I got angry at you."

Thane raised his hand at her, as if to hold off her apology, "No, you had the right to be. I just wasn't thinking when I said it was all. I forget that most girls don't act like Tomboys. But enough of that, you obviously had something you wanted to ask while out in the café." Sayo blinked for a moment in confusion, his words not having much meaning until the earlier conversation replayed itself in her mind, causing her to gasp slightly, "Oh yeah!" Thane chuckled to himself at the girls short natured memory, but nodded his head, "Yes. So, what did you want to ask?" Sayo took a deep breath, her curiosity giving her a more serious look, "About what you were saying earlier… something about Estoria... and your kids… what… did that all mean?" Thane lightly shook his head before he let out an equally light sigh, giving Sayo a smile, "I guess that my secret came out a little faster for you then I was hoping. Granted, it probably wouldn't have happened if I had been paying more attention to my surroundings, but I suppose sooner rather than later is a better policy eh?" "Secret?" Thane gave her a pat on the head, "There are a few things I haven't told you about Sayo, but It will need to wait until later. For now, I've been gone from the table for a while now and I'm afraid that Seruhiko and Takamichi will start to wonder what's taking me so long. I do promise to tell you though, that much I guarantee. For now, let's head back to the table." Sayo watched him walk off until he left the bathroom, his words ringing out in her ears and giving her a great deal of confusion "Secrets…" She thought on it a little bit longer before she followed after him. By the time the both of them got back to the table, Seruhiko and Takahata had just finished their conversation of the most recent information on the case. "Ah! There you are Thane-kun! Was wondering if you were having problems in there." Thane pulled up his chair and scoffed at the older man, "I'm not to the point where I have trouble going to the bathroom old man. But enough about that, what are your thoughts on the perp?"

Takamichi started to stroke his chin in thought, his thoughts twirling around convoluted and vague, "I'm not quite sure… as you all have speculated, My own conclusion comes to a magical beast of some sort… However, if it had been, then we would have known about it when it made its way into the campus and yet our alarms hadn't been tripped." Seruhiko pointed out another piece of info, "Yes, but that's if the barrier had been active. Remember, the barrier had deactivated 2 days ago for unknown circumstances." "True… but, there is a fault in that theory." Thane tilted his head at the man's words, "How so?" "The fact that whatever it was waited two days to show any signs of its appearance. Most carnivores would have sought out food immediately and found it quickly in the form of other such places, like stray animals and other Grocers, and perhaps even helpless students…" The three teachers shook on that last Idea. Takamichi nodded his head slowly before he spoke up again, "Yes… the more I think about it, the more it seems that our attacker had only just shown up last night…" Thane nodded his head at the idea, the facts making a great deal of sense. Takamichi pulled out another piece of paper and then directed his attention to Thane "Thane-kun… something you mentioned here in the report caught my interest… you mentioned that Makie had been attacked earlier this morning correct?" Thane nodded his head in response "Yes. It hadn't been very far from the scene, and my own judgment had brought to my attention that some negative energy had been used at both places." "I see… Forgive me if this seems a little blunt, but I believe that the two cases don't have much in the way of each other." Seruhiko along with Thane glanced at the teacher, Thane feeling somewhat confused but Seruhiko being the one to voice the question, "Why do you say that Takahata-san?" "First off, the condition of the two individuals. Makie had only been unconscious when they found her this morning, whereas the store owner had been attacked. Tell me, why is that?" Thane tapped is fingers against the glass of the table in thought before he spoke up, "There could be a multitude of reasons. However, My own most prevalent theory is that Makie didn't get a good glimpse of her attacker and had fainted from the oddity of whatever it was."

"I see… that is a good theory, however, wouldn't a large animal take advantage of the situation to get an easy meal? An unconscious girl doesn't put up much of a struggle after all." Thane grinned at the older man in mock deviousness, a small jib forming in his mind, "Speaking from experience are we?" Seruhiko and Takahata took a moment to get the gist of his sarcasm and started to chuckle to themselves, "Ha! As funny a suggestion as that was, I have never had the opportunity to apply it, nor do I hope to in the future." Thane held his hand up in mild amusement, "I understand, just poking fun is all. However, I can see the flaws in some of my logic, unfortunately, it is about the only one that holds the most water." Seruhiko looked over a few more of the papers in hopes that he might find something else, but didn't find anything and let out a sigh, "I also believe that Gandolfini had come to much the same conclusion in that regard." "So I'm not alone in my theory then… However Takamichi-san, I am Interested in what you might think on that situation. You obviously had a reason for the thought." The older man pulled out his cigarette box and swiped one out of the case, though it remained unlit in his mouth "Call it a feeling… But I'm afraid other than the reasons I listed, I don't have much else in the way to prove my statement." Thane gazed at the man for a moment longer before he leaned back into his chair "I see… I won't disprove your Ideas Takahata-sensei, many times I have found ones gut to be more accurate then established 'truths' and 'statements.' However, Until something more concrete shows up, I'm afraid that I must stick with my own established theories. Again, I mean you no disrespect on the matter." The older gentleman laughed to himself at the youths apologetic tone, "No need to worry Thane-kun. Like you said, something more concrete would need to show up before my 'gut feeling' could be proven. However, other than the reasons I listed, I'm afraid that I don't have any more thoughts on the case."

Both Thane and Seruhiko simply nodded their heads at the man's words. "That's alright. In comparison to things I've had to deal with in Estoria, that's plenty of Info." "I also Agree, it's not anything that we haven't dealt with before. A lack of Information is almost a common factor in cases." The three teachers continued on in their conversation for a good while longer, the case eventually melting away in light of other more light topics of discussion ranging anywhere from Thane's teaching position, to what Takahata had been doing over the past few weeks. The three teacher's continued on with their conversation for several hours, eventually burning most of the daylight hours away until someone took notice of the time. Takahata looked down at his wrist watch and whistled out when he saw the time "*tweet* Goodness… we've been at this for a long time. Longer then I had planned. Sorry you two, as fun as the past few hours have been, my own schedule demands that I take me leave here, and according to my own time, you guys will need to get going soon as well." Thane curiously glanced from the teacher, to his own cell phone. Thane actually had to do a double take when he saw the hour. 5:35 P.M. "Good grief! We need to get moving Seruhiko-san! Our meeting is in less than an hour!" The Bishi teacher glanced at his own watch and his squinted eyes went wide in surprise, "Goodness! You're right! We need to get moving!" Both Thane and Seruhiko hastily got up from their seats and gave Takahata a last bow before the other two left the building in a hurry. Thane then turned to Seruhiko and gave him a half panicked, half sheepish look, "Sorry to say Seruhiko-san, I don't know the way, so You'll have to be the one to show it to me." Seruhiko simply nodded his head quickly and motioned for the pale youth to follow. The both of them briskly walked for a good distance across the campus, Seruhiko hardly slowing down for any reason and Thane keeping up with the Mage. Much to Thane's surprise, Seruhiko lead Thane to the outer woods, close to where Eva made her own home.

Eventually the two of them found a small cottage home in the woods much like Evangeline's. However, it appeared to be smaller in size, as if to indicate that it wasn't meant for large amounts of persons. However, Seruhiko continued on to the front door with Thane close behind. When they finally stopped, Seruhiko lightly rapped on the door while chanting under his breath. Thane didn't hear it, but from the sounds of it, it was an incantation of some sort. After the fourth knock, the door lightly clicked and then opened slightly. Thane glanced over at the middle school teacher and gave him a confused look. Seruhiko laughed sheepishly, "Sorry, I forgot to mention that one needs to do something special when getting into this particular facility. Since you're with me, you don't need to worry about it. Now let's head on in. I'm sure everybody else will be here already." Thane nodded in agreement and closed the door after they both stepped into the foyer. After they removed there shoes, the both of them went down the short hallway, Seruhiko in the lead while Thane followed behind him. They finally made it to the back of the house, where they saw everybody else from the dean's office present. Gandolfini, whom had been standing and had a report in his hands, glanced up at the two of them and gave them a cursory gaze, "Ah, I see you two have shown up. Just barely on time I might add." Thane spoke up with a smile, "Sorry, our chat with Takahata-Sensei went on longer then we had thought, hence our lateness." The dark skinned mage raised his eyebrow at that, "Takahata is back? That's good to hear. But enough about that, could the both of you take your seats please, then we can get started." Seruhiko took a seat next to Nijuin and where Gandolfini was standing, which left Thane an empty seat next to Takane and across from Nutmeg. Weather the girl was bothered by his seat placement; she made no mention of it. The moment he sat down, Takane handed him a folder. "Go ahead and read that. It might be outdated info to you, but it also holds some reports on the crime scene that you may not have gotten to view."

Thane gave her a nod in thanks and went over the material inside. Like she had said, it had been old info that they had already gone over, and nothing inside went outside of his expectations, so it was quick read. It took Thane all of two minutes to read through the new info, mostly just high speculation items and educated guesses in his book. From what he could see across the table, Seruhiko had also finished at about the same time, placing the folder on the table and glancing over at the leader of the group. Gandolfini had managed to get a chalk board up and written on in that time, glancing back out into the group with a serious understanding, "Alright. Now that we are all hear, let's get this meeting underway." Gandolfini turned fully around and gazed at everybody with the practiced ease of a man doing his job well, "Alright, as you all know, we have been assigned to deal with this class yellow level threat. We currently have no idea of what it is, its abilities, or what it even looks like. However, to prevent the injury of anymore students or mundane's, we need to try as hard as we can to catch the perp. Now this is what the plan will be… we will split up in to several teams of two." Gandolfini started to draw on the board, several circles forming with each motion of his hand, "Our plan of action is to spread out and at least try to make first contact with the target." Seruhiko nodded his head and spoke up, "Basically gaining Intel on our suspect." "Correct. We need to make our net as wide as possible in order to find the attacker. However, we do not engage the target on sight. We need to figure out what we are dealing with first, is that clear everyone?" The group gave a nod unanimously. "Good. Now, Nijuin will be acting as the go between for all of us. He'll be acting as our focal point for all communication and information relay." The portly man nodded his hand and then stood up and started to walk around the table, handing everyone a small device.

When Thane got his, he turned it over in his hands for a moment to observe it. It was a small ring, magically enchanted from the feel of it. "Those will be our main focus for telepathic communications and image readers. Just hold it up and chant _'oculus'_ and everybody else will see what the ring is pointed at." After he got done explaining, Nijuin sat back down and let Gandolfini have the conversation, "Alright, before we begin, I want to pose a question to everyone present. How many of you have any real combat experience? And if so, where do your specialties lie. I ask because there is risk that what we are dealing with could attempt to engage you in combat, and I need to set the teams accordingly." Nijuin was the first to answer his question, "I have indeed done quite a bit of combat. But mostly in the form of rouge mage criminals and of Magical beasts. My specialty in magic is high speed sagitta magica and earth magic's followed by telepathic information gathering and distribution." Seruhiko was the next to go, "I also have seen combat, and much the same as Nijuin-san, I have also dealt with the same types of enemies, with perhaps a little more frequency. My specialties lie in long distance air magic's, with some short range disarming and capturing spells." Gandolfini Nodded his head at the both of them, "I see… I myself specialize in many forms of combat due to my work as a mercenary. My specialties lie in short to mid-range magical bullets and other such equipment. How about you four? I may have read the reports on you, but I personally think it best if I hear it from your own mouth." Takane wasted no time in making her abilities known, "I myself have not done much in the ways of combat, most of it being in tests and simulations, but I managed to top those easily enough. My specialties lies in any range combat Shadow Magic."

Gandolfini nodded his head, "I see… a versatile fighter, though your lack of experience could be problematic…" Gandolfini then glanced to the rest, his eyes coming to rest on Sakura Mei, "How about you Mei-san?" The girl flinched when he called her name out loud and started to stutter "U-U-um… I have haven't gotten into real combat before unfortunately…most of any fighting I have done have been in simulations and the few demons that managed to get into the campus a few days ago… that's about the extent of my experience… I also specialize in long to mid-range Flame magic and unincanted spells…" a few people in the room raised their eyebrows at that info, Seruhiko actually looking impressed "Unincanted spell's at your age? Call me impressed!" Mei actually blushed a little due to the praise, but Takane gave her a look "Mei! Don't be like that! A Mage must be humble in all things they do." The startled girl quickly nodded her head "Y-yes Onee-sama!" Thane chuckled a little to himself at the girls meekness, but stopped when Gandolfini drew his attention to Natsume, "And what about you Megumi-san? What's your level of combat effectiveness?" The bespectacled girl, though looking nervous, didn't give off the same vibe as Mei, looking a little more composed "My own level of combat experience is also somewhat low, my only real fight having been a few days ago, much Like Sakura-san… Though my own scores in the simulations are adequate enough. My magic isn't very combat oriented, mostly ranging in water and healing spells with some in magic relay, much like Nijuin-san." Thane giggled to himself at her description, "So basically you're the squishy bishop who can't afford to get hurt." Takane looked over at Thane with a confused expression, "Bishop?" Thane let out a sigh when he noticed a few people's confused faces "Nevermind, it's a gaming term for a healer…"

Gandolfini snorted to himself at Thanes choice of words, "an apt comparison… However, what about yourself Thane-kun? Where does your level lie in in terms of combat?" Thane noticed that everybody had drawn there attention to him, a great deal of curiosity on their faces. Thane glanced between everybody first, letting some silence flow before he let out a sigh "Let's see… My own combat experience… I have a great deal, having fought in two wars and many border skirmishes followed closely by hostile invasions from forces outside of my homes borders being both Tactician and Soldier in many of my fights. As for my magical abilities… I'm a superb elementalist at close to mid-range combat and am capable of high powered, long range destructive spells. I also happen to have some Minor degrees in many other fields of magical study. My nickname in the Estorian Army was 'the Tactician' My enemies called me 'Blood dealer.' And that's the extent of my abilities." There was silence in the room before Gandolfini spoke up, "That's… an impressive reputation you have Thane-kun considering your age… it's somewhat hard to believe actually." Takane looked over at Him, some skepticism in her eyes "And even if all of that is true, isn't it stated in the report that your power is at an all-time low? Despite your history, I don't think you would be all that helpful in this kind of situation." Thane gave Takane a grin, his own amusement at her judgment showing through his smile, "True, it would appear that I would be very weak right now and not of much use in this operation… if I was wholly reliant on my magical ability that is." Nijuin gave me a curious look, as if to ask the question with both his eyes and his words, "Then judging from your words, you have other means of combat besides your magical ability?"

"Let me tell you all something. One doesn't always find themselves in the most optimal of situations, there power at max and the enemy ready to fall over. I've found myself in many disadvantageous situations, having my own power either lacking or none existent. I'm sure that, You, Gandolfini-san have also found yourself in such situations before in your work." The dark mage nodded his head slowly, knowing that a man must have both wits and power if he was to survive the grueling business of war, "True… so are you saying you have other means of combat at your disposal?" Thane leaned back into his chair and nodded, "That I do, a smart mage trains himself in more than the mind, least he finds himself with a slit throat. Or so my hand to hand instructor taught me anyway." Gandolfini studied him for a moment before he came to a conclusion, "Alright… good enough. Since I now have a handle on everybody's abilities, I can now go ahead and announce my results of the teams to be used." The tactical leader started to draw out names and numbers on the dark green board, the scrapping of the chalk being the only thing making noise in the room. Eventually, Gandolfini got done and then turned around to everybody in the room, pointing with his chalk at them, "Here's how the situation will work. Nijuin-san will be our focal point for all information, anything you find that even remotely appears to be related to our target, you report it back to him so that everybody can react accordingly." Everybody nodded their heads, his words making sense to them. "Good now here are the teams… Seruhiko-san and Mei-san will be paired in a team. You two will be our long range support team in case things get hairy. You will be referred to as team 1 Caster." Both individuals nodded their heads in understanding; however Mei looked a little bit nervous.

Something that Takane noticed as well, "Gandolfini-san… perhaps it would be best if she were paired up with myself or Megumi-san?" Gandolfini gave her a look before he let out a sigh, "I know that she has some issues outside of teams beside you and Natsume-san, however, this placement is for the best of everybody. It allows for the most optimal chances of success in the mission." Takane looked back down at the report, Gandolfini's words ringing true. The dark skinned mage was silent for a moment longer before he continued, "alright… Next up is team 2 Caster, which will be myself and Megumi-san. We will be the ones to provide cover and support if things get out of hand, all links will defer to this team for instructions should something unexpected happen." Everybody nodded their heads in understanding, Megumi not phased at all by the placement. "And the last team, Caster 3. This group will consist of Takane-san and Thane-kun. You both will have the more combat oriented role of subduing our target should it come to close range." Thane raised his eyebrow, his thoughts conflicting on the role, "I guess I can understand my role in that… but don't you think your giving Goodman-san a pretty dangerous job? She hasn't seen much in the way of combat as far as I can tell." Takane looked over at Thane with an indignant look, "Excuse me? Are you saying I can't do it?" the assistant teacher held his hands up in haste when he noticed the accusatory tone in her voice, "No, don't twist my words. I'm just saying that you seem a little young is all. If you have the skills and the ability to tango with a half beast though, then I say all the more power to you. It was just an observation Goodman-san, I wasn't trying to slight you." The girl gave him another Glare, his words not convincing her. However, Gandolfini made a move, silencing the rest of the group when he brought their attention back to himself, "alright, since we have the teams sorted, here is how the operation will go. Like I said earlier, Nijuin-san will be our main focal point for information, anything that needs to be communicated, goes directly through him. However, our range is not unlimited. The telepathic range that we can establish with all of us is around 10 Kilometers (6 miles) so we need something of a tight circle. However, this will allow our communications to run smoothly and safely without risk of interception from others."

While he explained this, Gandolfini drew on the board, first a large circle to indicate the range, and a small dot in the middle to show the main focus of communication. He then drew three other small dots in a row, like a fan, and wrote the team numbers on each of them "This will be our search style. We will spread out and begin our search, looking for anything that may relate to our perp or indicators to their actions over the past few days. Is that clear?" nobody in the room spoke up, all simply nodding. Gandolfini's eyes scanned out into the room for a moment, just in case before he closed his book and turned back to the board, "very well. Team Caster three will be our right most team, followed by Caster 2 in the middle and caster 1 on the left. Our search will begin in the targets most recent hit, the dining area." Thane along with everybody else spoke the name out loud "Chefs corner." "Correct. Go ahead and get any items you think will be helpful in the operation out in the next 15 minutes or so. We leave when it's 6:30." Thane started to stroke his chin before he let the time mule around in his head for a moment, "Hold up… isn't it still early for us to begin? There should still be a lot of people out and about at this time." Gandolfini raised his eyebrow before he nodded his head at the statement, "True… but it's already been taken care of. We have set up a safe zone around the entire food district, telling people that the buildings are being inspected for earthquake durability. And if that doesn't deter people, then we also have magic in place to cause most mundanes to avoid the place. Our search area will be clear." Thane nodded his head in understanding, the mages tactics making sense.

The next 15 minutes where silent one's, everybody busy getting their items prepared, spells chanted, and defenses tested. Thane got done a little earlier than the rest of the group and with at least 6 more minutes to kill time before the operation began, he decided to use it wisely. 'Wisely' being to socialize with one of the weaker links of the group. Thane walked up next to Mei Sakura and gave her a smiling greeting, "Howdy there Mei-san. How are you feeling?" The girl looked up at him slightly startled, a broom in her hand and some nervousness on her face, "Oh… um… well… I suppose…" "Well huh? Then why do you look like you're ready to fall over due to nervousness?" The girl blanched at his observation, but shook her head at him, "N-No! I'm not nervous! Not at all! I'm totally ready for anything!" Thane slowly shook his head, his eyes cocked to the side in amusement at her false bravado. Thane stared her down for a moment, the girl nervously glancing this way and that to avoid his gaze. After a few more seconds of this, Thane simply shrugged his shoulders and turned around, allowing the girl a moment of relief from his heavy stare. However, she didn't expect him to quickly jump back around and yell at her, "AT ATTENTION SOLDIER!" Mei literally jumped at his verbal assault, throwing her broom into the air when she flung her arms up in surprise and shrieking out, "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHH!" a few people in the room started to chuckle at the display, others groaning out in annoyance. Thane was one of the few smiling at her "Don't look 'ready for anything' to me Sakura-san." The girl hastily righted herself, her face turning a deep crimson, "I-I-I wasn't ready for that! You just jumped me all of a sudden!" "And if I had been an enemy, I would have either torn you apart, or knocked you out." He delivered that line in a neutral tone, the girls face turning from embarrassed, to shame crested. Mei then looked down at her feet, her shame at his words striking a chord with her.

Thane, noticing the less-then-stellar improvement to her mood, let out a tired sigh, "Now why are you getting all depressed kid? True, I had caught you unawares in that one moment, but I guarantee that it wouldn't have happened if you had been more relaxed. Impatience and stress lead to unwanted thoughts of self-doubt and depression. Don't be that way and you'll be right as rain!" The girl let out a loud moan in annoyance, "I know! But I can't help it! I've not been on a lot of missions before and the fact that I might screw up or make things worse makes me feel awful!" Thane could only sigh at her attitude, "You scrubs… alright, how about we take your mind off of the mission and on to more pleasant things! So what division of the campus are you in Mei-san? Co-ed? All girls?" the girl could only blink in confusion, his question not making sense at first. "Huh?" "Oh boy… I mean do you attend this school? Are you in the middle school division?" His question finally started to get through to her confused mind, her answers coming quick, "Oh! Yes! I'm in middle school! Second year! All girls section. But only about six months at Mahora itself." Thane tilted his head at her, that little tidbit looking mighty tasty for a conversation topic. "Oh? Your second year of middle school but you've only been at Mahora for 6 months? What does that mean?" "Oh… Um… I happen to be a foreign exchange student from the Jonson's Magic school in America…" Thane nodded his head, just now noticing the accent she had in her Japanese, and smiled at her again, "Really now? Then you must be pretty good at studies if you managed to get into an exchange student program!" The girl sheepishly started to scratch her temple in embarrassment "eh he he… a little bit…" It was in that moment that Nutmeg decided to pipe into the conversation, a bright smile on her face, "She doesn't mention it much since she's just trying to be humble, but she got all A's in her courses. She could have gone to any place she wanted to in the exchange program, but she wanted to come to Mahora she said!"

Thane nodded his head with some admiration. The girl obviously was a genius, that or really hard working, but he couldn't help but feel some respect for the girl's accomplishments. "Hum, color me impressed Mei-san! I think I have a newfound respect for you! So did you graduate Valedictorian of your class?" Again, Mei started to blush in embarrassment "Yeah…" Thane smiled again, not at her achievement, though that deserved merit enough. No, he was smiling at her relaxed nature. She had finally started to calm down thankfully. She didn't look like a bundle of nerves waiting to happen. However, where the progress had been made, the time had been used up, and Gandolfini made it a known fact "alright people, times up. I hope you're ready, because we leave now." Thane gave the mage a slightly annoyed look, but simply looked back at Mei and gave her another smile "Good luck out there, and try not to get caught **to** unawares"

Mei gave him a sheepish smile, his words not quite so full of bitter truth this time around "I'll try not to." After getting ready, the group followed Gandolfini outside, where the mage then muttered a few words under his breath and actually caused the house to disappear into thin air. Thane glanced over at the dark skinned mage and gave him a slightly confused look. "We keep this place secret due to its vicinity to the Dark Evangel. It acts as both a monitoring station, and a base of operations for those of us who keep the school safe from magical threats." The pale mage nodded his head in understanding, the meaning behind a hidden base not being lost on him. After that, Thane followed the group out of the woods and on to the investigation.

**Xx Later xX**

Thane clicked his tongue a few times in boredom, the empty streets of the once bustling Chefs corner about as dead as a graveyard. Thane glanced around the empty street he was walking along, the only other sound being Takane's own footsteps as she walked next to him, her eyes trained forward for the slightest of oddities. He, however, had his attention on the café that he had dined at with Takahata and Seruhiko not but 5 hours ago. This had to have been the 8th time that night that they had passed this very same café, and they had been no closer to finding anything out about the attacker then when they had first started. Thane let out a sigh before he brought the ring up to his ear, his thoughts loud and clear but still mouthing his mind all the same, "This is Caster 3 reporting in… still no signs of the perps actions or signs of the perp in the vicinity. What is the status of Caster 2 and 1?" Feeling a slight buzz that he had heard many times in the past five hours, Thane felt Nijuin speak into his mind, _'Also experiencing much of the same, Mei-san believed she had found something, but it turned out to be nothing.'_ Thane let out a loud sigh before he responded, Takane also having much of the same expression, "Understood. Are we to spread out further then?" There was a momentary pause as information was transmitted across psychic channels, but the portly man responded, his thoughts sounding weary and distraught, _'Negative. However, that is liable to change in the next hour or so if we find nothing. Keep in touch in case you find anything.'_ "Understood. Caster 3 ceasing communication." Thane lowered his handwhile shaking his head, the situation simply growing more fruitless the longer this progressed. Thane was quick to notice that Takane herself also looked distraught; though weather it was over the same thing he was feeling was debatable.

"Something up Goodman-san?" The blond shook her head, frustration on her features as she looked over at Thane, "Yes, we've spent so long looking for traces of this villain, but have yet to find neither hair nor hide of the fiend! And while we dilly dally here, it could be elsewhere, preying on Mundans and others who lack the ability to defend themselves from the threat! It is infuriating!" Thane gave the girl a pitying smile, her own eagerness to find this beast and help those in need very obvious in her manner "True, this might seem meaningless to you, but every bit of information we find and explore brings us that much closer to our target and to their goals. I know you want to help people, but try to be patient Goodman-san, investigation is also fundamental in catching targets." The girl ground her teeth in frustration at his words, nothing she could say would be a good enough argument against the common facts of the situation, and it made her feel useless. Takane let out a sigh after a moment, her head hanging low, "I know that… But I still want to catch this target as quickly as possible so that others would not come to harm… what kind of Mage would I be if I let that happen…" Thane nodded his head at her, nothing he could say at that point really having needed to be said. She knew the job they had and the lack of info would hurt them if they looked unprepared. Thane drew his attention to the sky, the dark night looking less evil and brighter when he noticed the moon out in full glory. "Hey, check it out Goodman-san! The full moon is shining! Quiet brightly to I might add… it's a rather romantic night for couples wouldn't you agree?"

He drew his attention to the girl, expecting some forlorn look in her eyes, or some hopelessly romantic sigh coming from her lips. But the look he got was one of mild annoyance, "Couples? Romantic night? Don't be stupid Thane-san. That kind of childishness is best left at home. Time doesn't allow for a mage having romantic thoughts! The only time for romance should be with one's chosen Partner, and those should be few and far between." Thane was a little surprised at the girls overly cynical attitude, his eyes widening in surprise and his mouth hanging a little open, "Huh… didn't think I would see a girl not think about romance at a high school… most kids your age tend to think a ton about that stuff." Takane actually huffed at him when he said that. "I am not like most girls my age. A Hero's mind must always be on those less fortunate and incapable of defending themselves from the evils of the world. A Hero should have no thoughts about themselves!" "Oh come on… a Hero doesn't have to be full of Selflessness and righteousness all the time you know. Even a Hero can afford one tiny greedy thought or desire for themselves. And you can't _honestly_ say you've never had a single romantic thought about someone before in your years of living." Takane let out an indignant huff, but the slight blush on her face told him that he might have hit a signal. Wanting to find out, Thane inched a little closer, a mischief making smile on his face, "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh? Is that a blush on your face? Did you perhaps think of someone? A particular… _guy_ perhaps?"

Takane glared at him, something that might have been more intimidating if her face hadn't gotten deeper in color, "If I did, it would be none of your business Thane-san! Now come on! We don't have time to worry about stupid things like crushes!" Thane watched as she quickly walked away from him, her stride indicating that she wanted to be as far away from this conversation as she could. Thane, however, wasn't one to let it go at just that and followed after her. He let silence fill the air for a moment, allowing Takane to feel as if she had won the small battle before he sprung his ambush on her, "Is he tall?" "Guk!" The girl came to a skidding halt, rounding on the pale youth with annoyance on her face, "**If **you are so insistent to know, he's about as tall as myself!" Thane gave her another smile, "Is he strong? Handsome looking? Does he have impressive pecs?" Takane, knowing that an unending stream of question's was just about to be let loose, simply growled in anger, "Instead of beating around the 20 question bush, it would just be easier to tell you and be done with it!" "Aw… now that's no fun. You gave up too easy." "Well tough! You asked for it, and I will not give you the satisfaction of torturing me with an endless stream of obtuse questions!" The girl took a deep breath, both suppressing her anger while calming herself down. It took only a moment, but the girl acted as if this was a pretty big step in something.

However, Unlike what Thane was expecting, which was a bashful look with downcast eyes and a tiny meek voice at the revealing of her biggest maiden secret, she instead looked pumped up, eyes a glitter with anticipation and her body burning with Vigor, "The man I like is none other than the one and only Shiningman!" Thane blinked a few times in some mild confusion "… what?" "Shiningman! The hero of light and Justice! Wrapped in the unrelenting lights of justice and the glitter of righteousness, he fights evil with a Nobel heart and selfless courage! You must know of who I speak! Shiningman!" Thane could only cock his eyebrow upward in confusion, while curling his lip in a half smile "Um… it sounds… vaguely Familiar?" In all honesty, she had lost him when she had said 'glitter of Righteousness.' Takane saw the confused look on his face and nodded proudly, "Ah! I see it might be coming back to you! Then allow me to give you the final shining memory!" Takane raised her arms above her head in an X at her wrists while raising her right leg into the air like the crane position. "Shining… HA!" she then slowly started to lower her arms and her leg, but then exploded into movement, twirling around until she came to a stop with both her arms spread wide like a cross and her legs straight down. Thane could have sworn that she was glowing with both eager delight, and glitter coming off of her in the back ground. They stood there for a few moments, the both of them silent. Thane raised his hands and started to clap…slowly.

"Um… very cool… Takane-san…I think I remember now…" He didn't have it in his heart to tell her she looked so stupid right now, not even funny stupid either. But her eyes just seemed to scream that she had loved and practiced that for who knows how long. Better to let reality get her at a later date then right now, she just looked so happy right now. Takane gave him a beaming smile, dropping her arms and standing normally, "Ah-ha! I am glad to see that you have remembered! I Had fallen in love with the great heroics of Shiningman since I had first seen his visage on the early morning show when I was 9 years old!" Thane nodded his head, but internally he cringed at her, _'Oh dear god's she's been like this for years…'_ "But alas! Shiningman is a beacon of light! Where I would emulate him in every way, I fail due to my aptitude in magical skills!" Thane tilted his head at her, his mind already working out what she was talking about, "You mean your ability to use shadow magic." "YES! Shadows! The symbol of the villain! Woe is me, who would seek to bring the world light but must be cursed with the highest ability to use Shadow magic! The God's play cruel tricks I say!" "Uh-hu… I guess so…" Thane had started to tune her out, wondering if she was going to get done anytime soon since they had a job to do and all, totally ignoring the fact that he had started the whole thing in the first place. Takane let out a remorseful sigh, bringing her gaze back to Thane with some look of what he was surprised to see was envy, "I feel somewhat conflicted about you Thane-san. On one hand, you don't seem to act out the ideals of one who is a hero, but on the other hand, you seem to have done the deeds and helpful accolades of one who would seek to bring peace and love to the world in your wars."

Thane flinched at her words and held his hand up, "Hold it, back up on a few parts missy. First off, a war is not honorable in any way, shape, or form. Second, I may have been helpful in one war, but the second one? There was nothing 'good,' 'Helpful' or 'righteous' about it." He hadn't yelled, he hadn't been mean, but to Takane, it sounded as if she had just stepped on a landmine. His voice had been low and annoyed, his eyes looking angered and his mouth turned down ward in a scowl. Thane let out a low and angry sigh, but didn't say anything after that. Takane, for her part, looked him up and down for a moment, some shame crossing into her chest and causing her to feel regret at her words, "I am sorry… I had not meant to imply anything by saying that. I had only meant to make an observation of your deeds in comparison to you character." "I Know… and I didn't mean to sound rude, but please just don't assume things you don't know anything about. Some people have different views on certain actions, my own being some of those debatable in everybody's eyes." "But you still did them in hopes of a better outcome, correct?" Thane stopped for a moment, her words sounding familiar to him, as if he had heard them elsewhere long ago "… Yes. I had hoped my actions would bring something better to the world." Takane gave him a heartfelt smile, placing her arm over her heart and looking him dead on in his eyes, "Then you are something of a hero. One of Nobel intentions? Perhaps, perhaps not… but you still have a kind heart, and that is something any hero should have."

Thane gave her a confused look at first, but it slowly melted away into an amused grin, "maybe… maybe not. But I do thank you for the kind words, they mean something to me. More than you may think. But tell me, why do you think I am a Nobel soul?" Takane glanced out behind him, as if looking off into the distance at something else beyond him, "Because of what you said and did for Mei. She tries not to show it, but the girl is very afraid of fighting despite her amazing marks in her lessons. As you might have been able to tell, she has some self-esteem issues as well. I simply want to thank you for the words you told her and the encouragement that you gave her before we started." "*Pffft* that? That wasn't being Nobel or righteous, that was me being helpful. The poor girl didn't look ready for such a mission was all…" Takane slowly shook her head, "I still wish to thank you for it. Your words gave her more confidence, and for that I am grateful Thane-san." Despite the praise, Thane only shrugged his shoulders with a smile, "I just did what I did…but you are welcome Takane-san." The both of them stood that way for a long while, the both of them Studying the other in that time before Takane turned around and motioned for him to come along, "Alright, enough with the Chit-chat, we have a mission to complete." "Got it." Thane followed along next to Takane, the both of them feeling a little closer as friend thanks to their chat. However, after some time, those thoughts were thrown back in the folder of their minds, the search once again proving slow and uneventful.

After another 40 or so minutes of continues searching, both mages received a signal from Nijuin _'Caster 3, have you managed to find anything yet?' _ Takane shook her head while Thane let out a sigh, "Sorry Nijuin-san, we got nothing. Zip, zilch, nadda, nothing with a capitol N. How about everybody else?" _'Afraid it's the same with them. And if you both have found nothing, then Gandolfini told us to go ahead and extend the search range to the limit, go outside the actual food corner and see if there are any traces further out.'_ Thane nodded to himself, the instructions coming across clearly, "Understood. Takane and myself will check everywhere we can. Caster 3 cutting communications." Thane put his hand down and nodded his head at his partner, her own nodding telling him that she got the message. The both of them eventually made their way outside of the original search range and began to thoroughly comb through the alley's, roads, and even a few trashcans in search of any new clues. However, even this search after several hours had turned up little to nothing. The two mages had started to grow agitated from the lack of progress, but Thane only let it show when he started to chew on the pack of peanuts he had, grinding the nutty treats into a peanut paste in his mouth. "I'm about this close to calling it quits for the night… it's almost 12 for god's sake…" Takane gave him a stubbornly annoyed look, her own determination not having diminished in the least, "We will stand and look all night if need be Thane-san. Until then, I will not rest until I have found at least an inkling of our target…" The shadow user then turned on her heels and went back to looking, trying to catch anything that might be important to the case. Thane however, was nearing the end of his rope on patience.

"Jeez… this is why the leader gets a bunch of lackeys to do all the work for him… so he doesn't have to put up with the aggravation himself…" However, where Thane was about to continue, saying something along the lines of perhaps using some magic to get a clue; he quickly came to notice the smell of the lake blowing in the light breeze. It had a clear smell to it, fresh and relaxing. Thane then turned to his searching partner and called out to her, "hey Takane-san, I'm going to go out this way, a little closer to the lakes edge for clues." The blonde nodded her head, not even looking up so as not to miss any details, "That's fine… just yell if you find anything, or contact me through the ring if you get too far away." Thane nodded his head and proceeded down one of the alleys. It didn't take long, barely even 4 minutes, but he found the edge of the lake. What he wasn't expecting was a large pier when he got out of the alley. "Huh… call me surprised…" Thane looked out at the pier for a moment, thinking about the boats or other such water faring vessels that might use it for their own reasons before his attention fell to the water in front of him. It was a deep black, hinting at the unknown depths that looked to extend deep into the bowels of the earth. The Moon light lit across the surface, looking as if a second moon had come to the earth itself in the deep waters. Thane was entranced by it, the low whistling of the wind the only thing he could hear while the moon light on the water hypnotized him. However, the spell was quickly broken when the sound of something scraping against metal startled him to awareness. Turning his head quickly, Thane saw a small shape flying in the sky over the surface of the water. It had been a seagull, taking off from the top of a tin roof in search of food this late at night.

Thane watched the bird fly over the water before the darkness of the sky shrouded it. He then turned his attention to the place he had heard the scarping. What greeted his eyes was a large building of some sort, stone walls and a metal roof. It looked a little old, like it had seen many days of the life of this pier. Thane glanced up and down the building, his attention being drawn to the name on the large sign hanging on the wall. From what he could see, it had said 'Delaciro' obviously the name of the company that owned the building, but there was no mistaking the buildings purpose. "A Storage facility huh…" he had seen some boxes stacked high in one of the lower windows along with white packaging of some sort. It wasn't anything unusual, not at all. However, there was one thing odd about it though. Most of these facilities had large double doors so that trucks could simply back in and quickly unload. However, the double doors on this particular building where wide open, a thing that got Thane's attention real quick. "Huh? Did they forget to lock it?" His curiosity getting the better of him, Thane walked up closer to the building before he came to the opening itself. When he did, his eyes widened in surprise. The rolling railing that allowed the door to open and close was torn clean out of the stone and both doors where lying in crumpled heaps on the ground, twisted in ways that shouldn't have been possible for solid metal. But the last thing he saw was the one that caught his breath in his throat. There where claw marks deep in the door, four rows that went about three feet in length, the width of all four easily covering the size of his head. Thane gazed down at the doors before quickly lifting his head up and looking into the warehouse.

He looked left and then right in hopes that he might catch sight of whatever did this, but then it dawned on him that he was the one standing in the moon lit door way and he quickly jumped to the side and out of view. Thane brought his ringed finger up to eye level and started to concentrate _'Takane! I found something! Relay to Nijuin-san that there is a warehouse labeled Delaciro with its door ripped clean off! Make it fast, I'm not sure if it's still here and I might need your help if whatever it is is still here!'_ The only reply he got was a surprised link from the girl and a quick, _'understood'_ mentally. He then waited for a minute, daring to take a peek around the corner and into the building itself. Now that his eyes had adjusted more to the darkness, he could see that a few piles of boxes had been tipped over roughly, spilling the contents all over the floor. They looked to be smaller boxes of grocer items, things like instant ramen, egg noodles and perhaps some vegetables as well. He was interrupted from his train of thought when he heard someone speaking into his mind, _'Thane-san! This is Nijuin! Takane-san is on her way and should be with you in a minute, but I need you to tell me what it is you see in there, if you can, try to send us an image by the ring.' _Thane held his hand up and pointed his ring into the room, the image being sent across the mental channel followed by Thane's own thoughts "I'm not sure if it's still in there, but it looks to have made a mess out of the boxes. Can you tell me anything about the storehouse itself Nijuin-san?" _'Not much I'm afraid. It's mostly used to store many of the chef's food stuffs and other such items. Not sure why the target would come in here, unless it was hungry of course…' _

Thane let that one seep into his mind for a moment. He couldn't' see any meat in there, but it was a pretty deep place, it could well be all the way in the back for all he knew. It was in that moment that he thought he saw something, and that thought was only reaffirmed when he heard the noise of something moving in the back. Thane jumped back away from the door way and placed himself flat against the cool wall, his breath quickening. Something was going on here, he was more afraid then he should be, but he just now started to notice an oppressive feeling in the air, just like when he had seen the destroyed market earlier today. Thane took a few deep breathes and started to relay his thoughts _'Our perp is here, I repeat, our perp is here! I just saw movement in the back!' 'What shape was it? Did you get a good look?' 'No, all I saw was a shadow, but I saw it for sure! Something is in here!' 'Wait for Takane before you make a move, we still have no idea what we are up against.' _Thane nodded his head though he knew nobody could see it, _'understood, will wait for-'_ Before he could finish the thought, Thane was distracted by the sound of something in the warehouse crashing to the ground and splintering all over the place. It had sounded like a stack of boxes falling over. However, it was the noise afterward that sent his blood running ice cold. It was the sound of a terrified scream.

'_Cancel that! I need to get in there now! There is someone in there with the target! I repeat, there is someone in with the target!' 'Wait for Takane! You have no idea if it's a trap!'_ Thane, however, cut off the telepathy and rounded the corner, "I hope I don't get my ass in trouble…" he quickly ran into the storehouse, ducking behind boxes when he could, but forgoing any sort of cover in hopes of finding the person in trouble. He quickly came across several large boxes and went around them, and it was then that he could hear desperate sobbing. Thane rounded the corner and finally saw where the source of the noise was coming from. Someone was huddled tightly in a small space between some boxes, their hands over their head and curled into a fetal position. Thane couldn't see real well who it might be, but he could tell it was a girl due to her higher voice and feminine frame. Thane quickly ran over and knelt next to the girl, looking her over for any injuries and let out a sigh of relief when he didn't see any on her, "hey… hey hey…are you alright? What are you doing here kid?" The girl stopped sobbing for a moment and quickly looked up, "Se-sensei?" Thane's eyes took a moment to adjust, but who he saw right in front of him couldn't have surprised him more. Violet hair, and light brown eyes and a nice face that he couldn't have forgotten if he had wanted to, "Misa-san? Misa what are you doing here?!"

Misa Kakizaki shook her head at his words, her body shivering in fright, "I… I don't know Sensei! I was fast asleep some time ago, but… but then… I started to feel cold and… and then I just woke up and found myself here! Sensei! What's going on! Why am I here? What was that thing I saw earlier?!" Thane placed his hands on the girl's shoulders to help calm her down and noticed that she had been wearing her sleepwear. It was a deep red Silk Chemise that exposed her shoulders and went about halfway down her lap. It was a sexy piece, but that wasn't the main point right now. Thane had caught what she just said, and was starting to dread what it meant. "Misa… what did you just mean when you said… that thing you saw earlier?" Misa took several shuddering breaths and her eyes went wide in fear, as if the very thought of it terrified her, "I don't know! I saw a huge shape earlier and it had the most terrifying eyes I had ever seen! It looked at me from over there somewhere-" she pointed to a spot somewhere to her right in between some crates "- and it just kept staring at me, snarling and occasionally moving! It… I thought it was going to eat me!" The poor girl started to sob again, and Thane pulled her into an embrace, trying to keep her calm and quite, "Shhh… it's OK Misa… I'm right here…but tell me… do you know where it went? Did you see if it left?" The girl didn't lift her head but Thane could hear her muffled voice from his chest.

"I don't know… but the eyes vanished a few minutes before you showed up Sensei… I want to leave Sensei, please… I want to go home…" Thane lightly stroked the top of her head, taking several glances around the area in hopes that the thing hadn't snuck up on him. Thankfully, it hadn't, but they needed to leave, now. Thane got to his feet, Misa's hand desperately clutching at his coat before he pulled her to her own feet, "Listen Misa… I know this is a strange and unusual situation, but I need you to try to stay calm alright? I'll get you out of here, but you need to keep a level head. I don't want whatever it is coming back before we can get you out of here alright? Can you do that?" Misa, though shaken, slowly nodded her head in answer. Thane took her hand in his own and clutched it tightly, giving her his most reassuring smile, "Good. Now hold on to my jacket and follow me out of here alright? Stay as close as you can so I can protect you." Again, Misa did as she was told and pressed herself as close as she could, fear driving her to stay safe. Thane slowly turned around and started to map out the way he came, trying to remember the way he had come in. he then picked a random direction and started walking as quickly as he could while being quiet. While that was going on, he re-established his link with Nijuin, the feeling of worry the first thing he felt when he mind linked _'Thane-san! What's going on?! Are you ok?' 'I'm fine for now Nijuin-san, however, relay to Gandolfini that we are in serious trouble. I just found one of my own students in the warehouse. Whatever our perp is had kidnapped her from the dorms and brought her here. For what, I don't know… but it couldn't have been good. She's too scared and confused right now for questioning. I also believe that the thing is still close, Misa told me that it had left only a few minutes ago before I had shown up. How far out are each of you now?'_ there was a moment of silence as Nijuin got estimates from the rest of the group, but he quickly spoke up _'Goodman-san is close now, she can see the storehouse from where she is, so less than 40 seconds if my guess is right. However, Seruhiko-san and Mei-san are about 7 minutes out and Gandolfini and Natsumi-san are about 12 minutes. Get with Takane as quickly as possible; you are in a dangerous situation' 'don't I know it… I'm cutting connections now, come as quickly as you guys can.'_

Thane let the mental connection dissolve, allowing him to get a full feel for his surroundings. Thankfully it didn't feel as if anything was there at the moment, But Misa's scared body against his arm told him that she was looking for anything in the shadows. Thane reached over with his free arm and lightly squeezed her hand in comfort "Relax, we're almost there and a few friends of mine are on the way as well. Everything will be fine Misa-san…" The girl looked up at him and noticed him glancing at her from the corner of his eye. The moment she did, she just felt a little more reassured, "Alright Sensei…" it didn't take very long for Thane to find his way out of the maze of box's and let out a relieved sigh when he saw the door after passing a corner of highly stacked crates. "Here we are… now keep close, we're almost to the finish line…Misa?" he had felt her grip start to get tighter and her lack of a response made him look over to check on her condition. He quickly came to notice that her eyes were wide and her mouth was open though nothing was coming out. She was staring at something behind him off to his right. He then turned a little more and looked out in her general direction, however, he was confused when he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, just more stacks of box's and crates "Misa? Is something the matter? What's wrong?" Misa didn't answer with her mouth. That was currently an impossibility for her with all the fear causing her throat to shrink. However, Thane noticed that she wasn't looking straight ahead of them, but rather further upward and more to the ceiling. Thane turned his attention to where her eyes were, and felt his heart stop immediately.

He had started to look up, and when he got to the top of the stack of crates, his eyes kept going up, only after that, they also got wider in fear. There was something on top of the crates, standing tall and massively built, the window behind it illuminating its form via moonlight. Covered in silver-ish gray fur, thick arms and crooked haunches like those of an animal, was some massive beast staring down at them both with deep and dusky red eyes. The snout was long, and slightly opened in a loud snarl and two long pointed ears that looked like they belonged on some demon flat against its skull in anger. Thane let out a small laugh at the thing while pushing Misa behind him, "A freaking Werewolf…" Thane's mind was currently going 280 MPH right now, but the most prevalent thought right now was how he was going to rub this in Setsunas's face when he got home. Misa, however, was both stunned and almost disbelieving in her words, "a… what? But… that can't be! That's… that's not…" "Believe what you will Misa, but all I'm going to say right now is that thing is real and it looks like it wants to munch on my arm…" As if to affirm his words, the Wolf gave another low snarl, bending it's body lower as if to stalk the both of them and started to _walk _down the crates like some kind of wooden staircase. Thane was currently trying to figure out how to get out of this situation when he suddenly felt something in his mind connect to something _'Thane-san! It's me! Takane! I'm here and about to enter the storehouse, what is your current situation?' 'current situation is dangerous and scared shitless! Do not enter! Engage in long range artillery fire into the storehouse!' 'I don't understand, what are you-' _"I CURRENTLY DON'T GIVE 2 SHITS ABOUT IF YOU UNDERSTAND OR NOT JUST FIRE!" Thane actually ended up screaming that last part out while transmitting it into Takane's mind, something that the Shadow mage flinched at when it hit her.

Thane looked back up when he got done screaming and saw that the beast had also reacted to his wonton yelling. It had decided that it was time to speed the stalking process up and had leaped down from its perch and was coming at them. Thane started to push Misa back in an attempt to get her away from the werewolf. "Shitshitshitshit!" The thing was crossing the distance quickly, as if the shadows themselves where lending it assistance with its travel. However, before it got another twenty feet closer to them, Thane heard the sound of several shots being fired behind him along with a loud incantation. Thane turned around and grabbed Misa by her arms, throwing himself at her while screaming, "GET DOWN!" The both of them hit the floor in the nick of time, the Shadow arrows blasting past them and into the room with destructive force and lethality. Thane kept Misa under his larger body, using as much of himself as possible as a shield for her mostly exposed body against the large wooden splinters and shrapnel that proceeded to fly everywhere in the mini explosions. Thane felt quite a bit of it glance against his coat, a lot of it not doing much in the way of damage, while others ended up smashing into his back with the force of a tossed cinderblock. Heck, he was pretty certain that a few of them _had_ been cinderblocks. After another 7 seconds of flying debris and painful impacts, Thane felt the air start to settle down, an indicator that Takane had stopped casting arrows into the room. Quick as a flash, Thane was back on his feet and picking up Misa in his arms, the sharp and pointed things all over the floor having torn her bare feet to shreds if she had walked across it. The pale youth ran as fast as he could across the floor with Misa in his arms, the way now very clear for him to take a straight shot to the door. Much to his relief, the Werewolf had either been incapacitated enough to not move, or just down right dead. He was hoping it was the second one.

Thane managed to clear the rest of the floor without hassle, but just as he was about to make it to the exit, he heard the sound of something howling behind him with brutal force. Thane came to a dead stop and placed Misa on the ground, his mind trying to formulate a plan as he moved, "Misa! Keep going until you get out the door! There should be a girl outside with blond hair and wearing black clothes! She goes by the name of Takane D. Goodman and she should be able to keep you safe! Now run! Go go!" The violet haired girl hesitated for a moment, feeling some pang of guilt and deep understanding at what he was telling her to do, "But… sensei…" "No time for minor Guilt girl! Just go! There is_ nothing_ you can do to make this situation better except to get the hell out of here! Now RUN!" Misa flinched at first when he shouted, but she then came to the realization that he had been right. There was nothing she could do. Misa gave him one last look of apology and then turned tail and ran out the door. The moment she had left the safety of his arm and eye vision, Thane prayed that he would be able to keep her safe and then turned around, his right hand in his pocket and on his Omni-tool. When he turned around, he was dismayed when he saw that the werewolf wasn't injured and simply looked pissed off. It walked easily through the rubble that Takane had caused, it eyes glowing in either pure anger, or in pure hunger for prey. Thane let out a nervous laugh as it stalked closer to him, his hand clutching tighter on his tool as he took step to the side. The werewolf's eyes followed him thankfully, so he decided to start talking. "Big aren't ya… Give ya maybe… 4 meters? Maybe a little under 12 feet in height? Not sure, but you sure look like you could break a skinny guy like me in half with no problems…" If the wolf understood or even cared for what he said, it made no attempt to let him know, only growling low as it kept its eyes on him and him alone. Thane gulped, his throat catching a few times before he could swallow down his nervousness "So… You've attacked two people already and you've kidnapped a third. I don't know if you have a plan or if you're just doing this at random, but you cannot be ignored nor allowed to roam free anymore. One way or another, you will be coming with me."

Thane drew his tool from his pocket, twisting it around in his hands a few times behind his back before he smiled to himself as he felt a familiar buzzing on his fingertips "Get ready… _Aisen'del!_" In the next instant, Thane had quickly swiped the sphere in front of him, a strong shaft of light erupting from it and engulfing the room in bright light for a moment. The werewolf flinched from the sudden brightness, closing its eyes so as not to be blinded. The light quickly vanished though, and where Thane had been standing bare handed and defenseless, he now stood with a Tall staff in both hands, ready for combat. The staff looked to be silver in color, with the whole shaft smooth with use and considered care. The top had several long reaching pieces that swirled around themselves into the shape of an entwined elongated half oval with a single smooth and clear gem in the very middle supported by nothing at all. Thane twirled the staff in his hand a few times before pointing the tip at his opponent with a mock smile. "Bring it!" The werewolf gnashed its teeth together loudly, sounding much like the clasping of two iron pieces in disjointed noise. It then howled loudly at him in challenge, the roar sounding the mix of Demon and wolf in chaotic agreement.

Suddenly, the werewolf backhanded several miraculously unbroken crates with a wide sweeping arc of its arm, sending them flying in Thane's direction like wooden missiles. He started for a second due to the unusual maneuver, but Thane took several steps back when he noticed both trajectory and flight path. Most of the crates ended up missing him by a mile, but several came dangerously close to his current position. Even one coming so close that he had to swing his staff swiftly to the side to deflect it. This proved to be a bad move on his part. The moment the crate was flying safely away from his face was when the sight of a full grown werewolf had come up into full view to replace it, the sharp claws already swinging into his face from the side.

Thane's eyes went wide and he ducked low, the claws missing him by several hairs breadths. Seeing an opening he could exploit, Thane brought his staff upward under its chin in a hard blow to break its teeth. Sensing the danger below, said werewolf quickly swerved its head to the side to dodge. But it didn't wait long to retaliate. The Man wolf clamped its jaws down viciously on the head of the staff, much to the youth's surprise, and tossed him aside like a helpless rabbit. Thane went air-born for a few feet before he sharply impacted into the ground and skid across the debris filled stone floor, many wooden splinters shoving themselves into his shoulders and back with painfully sharp points. Despite the current situation, the youth rolled into the last leg of his skid, using his momentum to throw himself to his feet and turn around just in time to duck low to avoid another sideswipe. This time, he _heard_ those claws connect with something and looked up to see heavy grooves buried deep into solid concrete.

Thane's breath took a sharp intake as fear and panic set in from the sight, _'Shit! How the hell can something so huge move so damned fast!? I take a hit from those claws and I won't have enough of me to send home in a burger pack!"_

Thane looked up and saw into the eyes of the beast, quickly rolling away when he saw the werewolf's strike coming at him from the front in a point, the stone sundering claws making aim for his exposed skull. Thane brought his staff upward in panic and knocked the hand off its trajectory, the claws burying themselves into the earth next to him. "Got Ya!" Seeing a momentary opportunity for a potentially crippling blow, Thane jabbed his staff into the beast's chest with all his strength, expecting the staff point to bury itself in soft flesh. But when it connected, it was like striking metal against stone.

'_What the hell!?'_

Thane didn't have enough time to think anymore. The werewolf lunged its head forward in retaliation to the attack, several tens of teeth digging themselves easily into his exposed shoulder and neck. Thane felt white hot agony sear through his body as it clamped down with the force of an alligator, several of his ribs cracking under the pressure and blood literally squirting out of the fresh wounds like small fountains. He wanted to scream, he really did, but his pain was to severe for him to even think about it. Instead, his mind nearly shut down from the shock, but a small part of him felt that he had an opening, and he took it. Thane pushed his staff as hard as he could into the chest of the creature and screamed with all the power he could gather in a split second.

"_{FORCE!}"_

In that second, the tip of the staff seemed to glow brightly before exploding with pure energy into the belly of the beast. He was rewarded with the sound of many things cracking on impact followed by the sudden removal of the wolf's maw from his shoulder. It came at the cost of removing quite a bit of his flesh from his shoulder and upper chest, though. Thane yelled out in pain for a moment when it happened, but threw his gaze toward where the werewolf was flying. He watched with satisfaction as the Wolf sailed right across the building and into a large pile of destroyed boxes, an explosion of wood chips and other items scattering everywhere on the beast's impact.

Thane leaned against his staff with his one good arm, the left hanging uselessly at his side with blood splattering on the floor and tatters of shirt and flesh hanging off his body. Thane clutched at his throbbing shoulder, more blood spilling over his hand as he crutched his staff into his right shoulder and trying with no luck to stem the flow of crimson liquid. "Shit shit… agh… bastard can _bite_!" _'But I think that was it. I need to go ahead and call in everyone else…'_ However, before Thane could establish any sort of link, the sound of something crashing behind him forced him to turn around slowly with a cringe. Getting up from the pile of wreckage was the werewolf, looking rather shaky, but otherwise ready for more combat. "Please tell me your just getting up to give a _riveting_ speech about how that was such an awesome fight and then proceed to fall back to the floor. Preferably unconscious." The only response he got was a vicious snarl. "Didn't think so…Damn it."

Thane quickly grabbed his staff with his one good arm, pointing it directly at the beast. However, he quickly came to notice that though it still looked shaky, the spot where his spell had connected was smoking. When he got a better look at it, he noticed that the great bloody spot was starting to cover over with fresh and unmarred flesh followed by silver fur. "Oh screw you!" In his eyes, it was an entirely unfair situation really. The werewolf could regenerate while he was stuck bleeding like a stuck pig out of his arm with about four broken ribs that burned like fire in his chest. And it was only fixing to get worse.

He closely watched as the werewolf shakily got to its feet, dismay filling him up when he saw that the things wounds where already gone. The werewolf gave him a wary look, as if seeing him not as prey, but as a more serious threat. And the look it was giving him sent a shiver up his spine. In retaliation to that feeling, Thane hefted his staff and chanted low so that it couldn't hear him _"{Give me right, give me power, and I will fight in your name…I will become the arrow, the spear, and the wind meant to guide them… I call on the four sisters to give me there blessing… Aerial Spear!}"_ Thane's staff lit up momentarily, but then the sudden sound of whistling seemed to resound in the room and launch at the werewolf, hundreds of spears of air whistling as they closed the distance. In the next moment, invisible missiles of wind blasted the place where the target had been standing, the loud crashing of already shattered debris breaking apart into even smaller pieces and tossed around the storehouse violently. Thane took no time in watching it however as he saw a figure erupt out of the tossed dust and smoke and run right for him. Thane pointed his staff and took a deep breath before launching even more arrows of air. However, his eyes widened in shock when the wolf just up and _vanished_ from view. Thane felt panic quickly set in as he turned everywhere to try to find it. Thane heard a heavy growl form beside him and acting on his need for survival, ducked low. However, where he felt the claw pass him by overhead, he felt the heavy blow of his lower abdomen being kicked in with savage brutality. Thane felt all the air in his body be blown out followed closely by blood coming from his mouth as his stomach ruptured on impact. He didn't have time to think on it or try to stop it.

In the next instant he was sent air born by about 20 feet, twirling several times from the force of the blow and his mind working in circles like his body. "Gotta… move… escape…" He didn't know where it had come from, but the werewolf was right above him, it's claws curled into fists and then struck him back down with a double handed hammer blow. The ground was quick to meet him followed with the bone crushing crash that caused him to nearly black out. Thane could hardly breath, and even the few times that he tried it felt like he was trying to suck down needles with every breath he took.

His body was beyond broken, and battered would have been a serious understatement to describe his current condition. He couldn't even turn his head to look at himself, the angle of his neck feeling weird and his body refusing to move at his command, but he could feel the agony in every inch of his body. Thane gazed up at the ceiling, his mind going blank while his vision started to edge out with black. The last thing he saw was the look of the werewolf as it gazed back down at him, it's eyes looking triumphant. Thane tried to move, to say something, to do _something_ to show that he was willing to keep going. But he could feel his body shutting down. He had taken too much damage, he had lost spectacularly. He couldn't' establish his mental link either, his mind too far gone down the dark road to even be able to detect it. The werewolf moved out of his line of sight, and he couldn't' watch it as it left him. If Thane was still able to think, he would have found the fact that it didn't finish him to be odd, but he couldn't, so the thought was lost on him. However, just before he lost all conscious, he could have sworn he heard something like scuffling somewhere around him. But it was drowned out by a heavy silence that wormed itself into his mind.

And then he blacked out.

* * *

><p>and so Pale Roots came to an end...<p>

Thane:EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!? what do mean! I just died a pathetic death! what do you mean end of pale roots!?

Oh Don't get your panties in a wad you little fool... I was only kidding. So tell me! what did you all think of this chapter after the long wait? was it to your liking? I would hope so! Now we will get on with the next chapter! as soon as I get done writing it of course... Hope to see you all there!


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